Court, not government, gave me clean chit: Eknath Khadse

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra revenue minister and BJP MLA from Muktainagar Eknath Khadse today told the Legislative Assembly the courts and not the government gave him clean chits.

"The court giving me a clean chit is a tight slap on the face of the people who levelled allegations against me," Khadse said in the Assembly.

NCP MLA Jayant Patil then said Khadse should reveal the list of these people who levelled allegations.

Khadse's remark came after the Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, speaking during a debate, said Khadse had been given the clean chit by the government, ACB, SIT, and should now be given the Home portfolio (held by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis).

To which Khadse said not the government but the courts absolved him in various cases.

It had been alleged Khadse received calls from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi house. Dogged by this and a couple of other allegations, he had resigned last month.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad yesterday told the Bombay High Court its preliminary inquiry found there were no such calls between the BJP leader and the gangster.

He also faced Opposition's attack, when a person, allegedly his PA, was caught in a bribery case, but ACB's charesheet in the case did not mention him.