A local court has declared Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis not guilty in connection with a complaint accusing him of failing to disclose pending criminal cases in his poll affidavit ahead of the 2014 assembly elections. Civil Judge S S Jadhav announced that the court has acquitted Fadnavis, who participated in the proceedings virtually.
The complaint was filed by advocate Satish Uke, who sought criminal proceedings against Fadnavis, alleging that the BJP leader did not disclose cases of cheating and forgery registered against him in 1996 and 1998 in his poll affidavit.
Fadnavis had previously acknowledged to the court that there was an inadvertent mistake by his lawyer in compiling information about pending criminal cases against him. Consequently, two criminal cases were unintentionally omitted from his election affidavit submitted in 2014. He emphasized that there was no intention to deliberately conceal information about these “insignificant” cases and that their exclusion from the Form 26 affidavit was purely an oversight.
The deputy chief minister, representing the Nagpur South West assembly constituency, asserted that he had included more severe cases in his election affidavit. He also highlighted his long-standing presence in the assembly since 1999, consistently winning by substantial margins.
Fadnavis had appeared before the court twice to provide his statement. Notably, advocate Satish Uke is presently incarcerated after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges.