PIL planned based on Nandlal report

THANE: Citizens' groups and rights activists from Thane plan to petition the Bombay High Court for an order restraining people accused of involvement in illegal construction and land-grabbing from contesting the polls.
Advocate Prashant Panchakshari, who will plead the case, said the PIL seeks to ensure that people intending to hold public office should be of high integrity and not occupy the post merely to "whitewash their past sins''.
"Presently, election rules state that only a conviction in any offence makes the person ineligible to contest polls. However, we are insisting that people who face criminal charges or who have been named in any inquiry report for their role in illegal activities should also be debarred from contesting,'' Panchakshari told TOI.
The PIL would be filed on the basis of the Nandlal Committee Report, which had inquired into irregularities and corruption in the Thane Municipal Corporation from 1987 to 1996. The inquiry had named 54 corporators and 36 civic officials who had caused huge losses to the TMC.
Many leaders from Thane had also encroached on forest land at Yeoor Hills by forging documents or they are benami owners of adivasi land. It was only after the high court's intervention that the TMC got into the act and demolished more than 20 bungalows in the region.
Panchakshari said, "The purpose of filing the PIL is to stop such people at the initial stage.'' He said the PIL would not target any individuals. An activist said, "Why waste public money and time on electing a person known for involvement in illegal acts?"
nitin.yeshwantrao@timesgroup.com