PIL files in Bombay High Court over Local Legislator Development Programme in co-operative housing societies
A Public Interest Litigation Petition no. 8 of 2023 (St) 30962 of 2022 has been filed before the Hon’ble Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra Government Resolution 0422/ प्र.क्र.62 (1) /का.1482 dated 22.06.2022 (attached) wherein the Planning Department of the State Government, for the first time, has permitted MLAs of the State to execute works / projects under the Legislator Local Development Programme (“LLDP”) scheme in Maharashtra using public funds generated from taxpayers for projects to be developed on land belonging to co-operative housing societies.
The PIL has been filed through Gayatri Singh and Ronita Bhattacharya, Advocates at Bombay High Court.
If you all recall, Press Conference was held at Patrakar Sangh on 22nd Dec 2022 in this regard. Yesterday was the first hearing before the Hon’ble Bench Acting Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala & Justice Sandeep V. Marne.
Petitioners had undertaken prolonged communication since September 2021 with Maharashtra State’s Planning Dept, Legal Dept, Chief Secretary, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Governor, Election Commission of India, State Election Commission and State Political Party Leaders to scrap and re-tract this ultra-virus intention.
Then. the impugned Government Resolution – 0422/ 62 (1) /1482 dated 22.06.2022 became reality. Petitioners Qaneez Sukhrani, Ravindra Sinha and Pushkar Kulkarni have now filed the Public Interest Litigation Petition seeking prayers to quash and set aside the impugned Government Resolution dated 22.06.2022 on the grounds that it will further lead to “buying of votes’, corruption and electoral malpractices as public funds allotted for the implementation of the LLDP scheme could now be put to use for the private interest by the creation of amenities within the premises of co-operative housing societies, in contravention of Article 282 of the Constitution of India.
The Petitioners have submitted in the Petition that the impugned Government Resolution dated 22.06.2022 can result in rampant corruption amongst building / construction related middle-men, affluent co-operative housing societies, MLAs, MLCs and their staff, and is also a blatant act of vote bank appeasement and would amount to a complete abuse and misappropriation of public funds.
