Eknath Khadse files discharge plea in Pune land grab case

Mumbai, Jun 27 (PTI) Senior political leader Eknath Khadse on Thursday moved a discharge application before a special court here in an alleged money laundering case related to a 2016 land deal in Pune district.

Khadse’s wife Mandakini Khadse and son-in-law Girish Chaudhari have also sought discharge from the case.

The Khadse couple was present before special judge R N Rokade, hearing cases related to MPs and MLAs, when his lawyer, Swapnil Ambure, filed the applications.

The court has sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the case, on the pleas of the accused.

Khadse, a senior minister in the previous BJP-led government in Maharashtra, had to step down in 2016 after he was accused of misusing his position to facilitate the purchase of government land in Bhosari industrial area near Pune by his wife and son-in-law.

The Khadse family purchased the land for Rs 3.75 crore when its actual price was Rs 31.01 crore, the ED has alleged.

Even though Khadse and his wife have been named as accused in the case, they were never arrested by the probe agency.

Their son-in-law was arrested in July 2021. He spent over two years in jail before being granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Khadse, who was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for nearly four decades, had quit the party and joined the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2020. In April this year, he announced that he would soon return to his parent party BJP. However, he is yet to join it formally.