Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Waikar Cleared in Jogeshwari Land Case
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 6: After the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed a closure report in the Jogeshwari land case against him, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Waikar stated that truth always prevails. He had maintained from the beginning that the allegations were false.
Waikar said, “Truth always prevails. When the case was registered, I had said that the allegations were false. I approached the Supreme Court and by submitting an affidavit they (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) told the court that the letter submitted by them was wrong and they withdrew the letter.”
The EOW filed a closure report in the Jogeshwari land case against Waikar, his wife, and four close associates. This development came after Waikar joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction and won Mumbai’s North West Lok Sabha seat by a narrow margin.
The case involved the construction of a star hotel in Jogeshwari by allegedly manipulating land use conditions. The EOW stated that the complaint filed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was based on “incomplete information and misunderstanding.”
Waikar joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde in March this year. Earlier in January, Waikar appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case related to an under-construction luxury hotel in Jogeshwari. Waikar’s lawyers called the allegations “bogus and baseless.”
The ED had conducted raids at seven locations related to Waikar and his partners in connection with the same case. The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Waikar in November, alleging a “Rs 500 crore 5-Star Hotel Scam.” Waikar was accused of defrauding the BMC of Rs 500 crore by obtaining permission to build a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a BMC playground.
Ravindra Waikar won the Mumbai North-West constituency by a small margin of 48 votes. The constituency witnessed a close fight between both Shiv Sena factions – Eknath Shinde’s Ravindra Waikar and Uddhav Thackeray’s Amol Kirtikar.
