Court orders prosecution of agriculture minister Sattar

False affidavit case: Providing wrong and insufficient information

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Maharashtra agriculture minister Abdul Sattar Abdul Nabi is set to face charges under Section 125 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, following a court order by First Class Magistrate Meenakshi M Dhanraj in Sillod.

The order comes after a complaint was filed against the minister for providing false and insufficient information in his election affidavit. The petition was filed by Mahesh Shankarlal Shankarpelli from Sillod and Abhishek Haridas from Pune in 2021.

Evidence of misconduct

In the petition, it was alleged that Abdul Sattar had given false and inadequate information about his farm, commercial complex, residential building, and education in his 2014 and 2019 Sillod and Soygaon assembly election affidavits. The petitioners claimed that the minister had prepared a false affidavit and left information blank, contrary to the Election Commission's directions.

The court found evidence to file a case against Abdul Sattar under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The notary, SK Dhakre, who attested to the affidavit, was not charged. Abdul Sattar filed an application on July 10, 2023, but the court rejected it and passed the order for prosecution.