Finally, just ahead of the elections, Maharashtra agriculture minister Balasaheb Thorat can heave a sigh of relief as the high court has
on Tuesday disposed of the petition filed by social worker Umesh Choube against him in the Zoogate scandal at Maharajbagh Zoo.
On September 24, TOI had reported that the high court had asked government pleader Nitin Sambre to submit a status of inquiry report from various agencies by September 29. "When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the high court was of the view that as the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) had conducted a detailed probe into the case, submitted its report to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), and the matter is before the competent authority, the HC need not interfere," said Srikant Khandalkar, counsel for Choube.
Khandalkar told TOI, "We'll not give up, though, and now seek a copy of the inquiry report under the RTI Act. If it is found that the minister and others have been given a clean chit, we'll again file a fresh petition." He claimed that Thorat's act was a violation of provisions of Section 38J of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972.
Thorat had been on the tenterhooks after the TOI reported recently that the HC had asked for a status report on the case. A source said that the minister was more worried about his rivals cashing in on the opportunity during the election and giving a political colour to the zoo issue. On Sunday, one of his supporters had also sought a copy of the petition.
After Choube's application on action against the minister was rejected on August 26, the veteran social worker had filed a fresh petition on September 7 citing a series of reports in TOI regarding the tiger petting case. However, surprisingly, when the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the court disposed of the petition.