In a significant legal development, the Gujarat High Court has dismissed the pleas of former BJP ministers Parshottam Solanki and Dileep Sanghani, who sought discharge in an alleged Rs 400-crore fisheries scam. The court of Justice Hemant Prachchhak on Friday rejected the petitions filed by Solanki, Sanghani, and Arjun Suthariya. These petitions challenged a March 12, 2021, order from a special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court that denied their discharge applications.
The alleged scam dates back to 2008, when Solanki served as the minister of state for fisheries and Sanghani was the cabinet minister for agriculture in Gujarat. The case was brought to light by Palanpur-based businessman Ishaq Maradia, who accused Solanki of bypassing standard procedures by allotting fishing contracts without adhering to the tendering process. Maradia claimed that this led to a “Rs 400-crore scam,” with contracts being illegally granted for fishing in 58 reservoirs across the state.
In previous hearings, Solanki contended that Sanghani, as the cabinet minister at the time, had authorized the fisheries contracts. Maradia initially approached the High Court in 2012 after the state government failed to grant sanctions to prosecute Solanki. However, then-Gujarat Governor Dr. Kamla Beniwal overruled the state cabinet on July 30, 2012, and sanctioned Solanki’s prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Following this, Maradia filed an application in the ACB court demanding action against Solanki and Sanghani. In response, the ACB court in Gandhinagar ordered an investigation into the allegations in May 2013. The ACB’s report, submitted in 2015, indicated irregularities in the awarding of the fisheries contracts.
The former ministers approached the High Court after the Gandhinagar court issued summons based on the ACB’s findings. Notably, in 2018, the High Court had already dismissed pleas from the two BJP leaders, which challenged the proceedings initiated by the special ACB court in connection with the alleged scam.
Source: The Economic Times