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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, MARCH 12: Battered by a string of adverse rulings by the Bombay High Court in the case involving his son-in-law Girish Vyas, former chief minister Manohar Joshi today announced his decision to quit his assembly seat on moral grounds.
Two PILs filed against Vyas’s Sun Dew complex in Pune have accused Joshi of getting a plot reserved for a primary school dereserved for Vyas’s multi-storeyed complex.
Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh here today, Joshi said he would submit his papers to Speaker Dattaji Nalawade during the ensuing budget session of the State Legislature and before that, place his case before the House.
Significantly, before taking today’s decision Joshi did not consult his political mentor Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray nor chief minister Narayan Rane. When he had decided resign on the earlier two occasions, he had, like a faithful Sainik, submitted his resignation to Thackeray.
When quizzed, Joshi said: “Since Thackeray was not in thecity, I was unable to consult him before making the announcement. I am sure he will not object to my decision.”
Facing the scribes, Joshi said that he had no plans to quit the party and would not refuse if the party decided to field him in future from the Dadar assembly constituency.
Commenting on the judgement, Joshi said, “Though the verdict is yet incomplete, I never expected that the court will pass such strictures against me. Once the full order comes, I will decide on whether to move the apex court or otherwise.” When pressed further, Joshi said “I feel, I will have to approach the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court.”
Joshi was at pains trying facing queries which were finding parallels between the incidents linked to his move today and earlier occasions when he had bore the brunt of unfavourable decisions taken by him.
When pointed out that the Bombay High Court had passed almost similar strictures and even accused him of perjury in the Enron case, Joshi said then he hadacted in his capacity as the chief minister and that he believed his actions befitted his position. However in the present case, he said, it was personal and concerning the abuse of a department headed by him.
Again, asked if he was being victimised since he had taken an unfavourable view on Justice Srikrishna, head of the one-man inquiry commission probing the communal riots, Joshi vehemently said it was not right to link the two issues.
“I had expressed my views on the findings of the Srikrishna Commission on the floor of the House. However, in the present case, the charges of misuse of power is against me,” he pointed out.
