Court rejects builder's plea in Lohegaon land case

PUNE: A special court here recently rejected a plea by builder Harish Milani to prosecute Mumbai-based builder Ramesh Govani and his partner Mahendra Shah, special public prosecutor Vivek Saxena and CBI inspector N M Parab in the Lohegaon land scam case. Milani, who is one of the suspects in the case, has alleged that the people named in his petition had manipulated evidence in the case.
Milani's plea said Parab, who is the investigating officer in the scam, had allegedly concealed material evidence in the chargesheet for shielding Govani and Shah by entering into a criminal conspiracy with Saxena, the prosecutor in the scam.
Parab had filed a chargesheet against Milani, defence estates officer (retd) Sevak Nayyar and others in the case. Milani had said the CBI should have made Govani a suspect rather than a witness in the case. He had demanded action against Govani, Shah, Parab and Saxena for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, etc under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. He also appealed for contempt of court proceedings against them and demanded a compensation of Rs 100 crore for causing him mental harassment.
Special public prosecutor Ayub Pathan had prayed for rejection of the plea stating that it was not maintainable.
Rejecting Milani's plea, special judge D R Mahajan said it appears from the prosecution's record that Milani had played the main role in grabbing government land, but still was making a statement that he was innocent and was the legal owner of the land.
Mahajan's order said there is no prima facie case to take action against Govani, Shah, Saxena and Parab. The plea is not maintainable and is premature as it was filed to harass the prosecution's witnesses, investigating officer and public prosecutor with ulterior motive, the judge observed. The court had earlier, too, rejected Milani's plea to make him an approver in the case as he was ready to reveal the names of more suspects against whom the CBI hadA not taken action.