New Delhi, July 24, 2020-
Adding to the twists and turns in the political crisis in Rajasthan, Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the key BJP protagonist, is facing the heat from the Congress after a Jaipur court directed the Special Operations Group (SOG) to investigate his role in the Rs 884 crore Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.
In the first comments post the court order, Shekhawat told, “It is a political conspiracy, it is not right to speak on this matter which is in court”.
“If the court wants, it can once again examine Sanjivani, or can get it investigated by SOG. Over time, it will be known who are behind this conspiracy. All this is happening to hide the fight within”, Shekhawat said alluding to the internal rift within the Congress.
On the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, Shekhawat said, “Democracy is being torn to shreds in Rajasthan. The centre of power in Rajasthan has become the MLA residence”. He said that in the case of the splinter group of MLAs, the Speaker had not ordered suspension, had only given a notice, the High Court has stayed it.”
The Congress turned on the political heat on Friday and demanded that Union Minister Shekhawat should be sacked from the Cabinet after a court ordered an investigation into his role in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in Rajasthan that has surfaced amid the political crisis in the state.
The Congress has dubbed it as the biggest ponzi scheme in the state. “Till the investigation on the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society is not over, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat should resign or Prime Minister should sack him”, said party spokesperson Pawan Khera.
Khera alleged that ‘Operation Lotus’ in Rajasthan is being piloted by Shekhawat. The Congress alleged that the cooperative society which was registered in 2008 has been active in Gujarat and Rajasthan and a total of 2.14 lakh investors deposited Rs 883.88 crore till June 2019 into the accounts of the society.
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Shekhawat is already mired in a controversy over the purported audio tapes linked to enticing Congress MLAs in Rajasthan.
The court order came on a petition by Ladu Singh and Guman Singh, residents of Barmer district. The court has ordered that the investigation should be done by the SOG on the allegations made by them which are against Shekhawat and others.
The petitioners submitted that SOG Rajasthan in Jaipur has registered an FIR No 32/2019 on August 23, 2019 after preliminary investigation on the complaint of many investors and has found that around 50,000 investors have been cheated to the tune of Rs 884 crore by Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society.
Vikram Singh and a few others have been arrested in the matter. It is alleged in the complaint that the petitioners invested Rs 54 lakh and Rs 14 lakh, having faith in Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, which were never returned and they were cheated.
They have also alleged that during the investigation the SOG has itself found that Shekhawat, his wife, Naunand Kanwar, his companies namely Surya Bhoomi Build Infra, Lucid Pharma, Nav Prabha Buildtech and their other friends Rajendra Baheti and Kevalchand Dakliya were instrumental in the offence and money has been transferred to them as per the chargesheet, but these persons were neither investigated nor the purchased property seized. Some property was purchased in Ethiopia also, as per the petition.
The petitioners were represented by advocate A. K. Jain who also submitted a chart of the money transferred to Shekhawat, his wife and his companies.
The Magistrate did not entertain the petition on the ground of locus. However, Additional District and Sessions Judge Pawan Agrawal relying on the Supreme Court’s judgement overturned the order and directed that allegations should be investigated in FIR No 32/2019 as the petitioners are victims.
The Additional District Judge Pawan Kumar passed the order on July 21 on the basis of a revision petition filed by the two complainants from Barmer, who had invested Rs 68 lakh in the co-operative society and were denied their dues upon maturity of the sum.
They also demanded an investigation into the role of the minister and his wife in the SOG case registered in August 2019. (Agency)
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