TCS Nashik case: AIMIM corporator Mateen Patel faces demolition notice after Nida Khan's arrest

Mumbai: The Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar civic administration is planning to demolish the house of AIMIM corporator Mateen Patel over allegations of it being an illegal construction. Patel's home at Naregaon was raided by the police last week to apprehend TCS staffer Nida Khan, who was hiding at his residence to evade arrest. Khan was arrested by a joint team of the Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar police last week.

Khan has been named in an FIR in which another TCS staffer from the Nashik unit alleged that she was raped and "converted" by her colleagues. The Nashik administration has pasted a notice on Patel's ground-plus-one-storey, 600-square-foot house. The notice was issued just two days after Khan was arrested from Patel's residence on May 7. Patel has been given three days to respond to the notice, with the deadline expiring on Monday. Patel has now approached the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar court seeking a stay on the demolition, claiming that the notice issued to him was illegal. He has also sought 15 days' time to respond to the civic body's notice.

There appears to be more trouble in store for Patel as the civic administration has also decided to initiate proceedings to disqualify him as under Section 10(d) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, aiding or constructing unauthorised and illegal structures constitutes grounds for disqualification.


"We have begun the process of identifying who the land belongs to and will be issuing him a show-cause notice. If it is found that the structure is illegal, then he will be disqualified," said Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar BJP Mayor Sameer Rajurkar. The development comes amid allegations by the BJP and Shiv Sena that the AIMIM has been backing Khan in the case. "She (Nida) is a paid worker (involved in conversion). She is closely related to AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel," alleged Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat. Meanwhile, a court on Monday remanded Khan to 14 days of judicial custody. Additional Sessions Judge KG Joshi passed the order after the TCS staffer was produced before the court following the end of her police remand.