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The decree against Mumbai's Congress chief on charges of criminal misconduct and disproportionate assets comes as a major embarrassment for the party that is already neck-deep in scams, and is reeling from the BMC debacle
Mumbai Congress President Kripashankar Singh resigned from his post yesterday, after the Bombay High Court issued a directive to the city police commissioner to prosecute him on charges of 'criminal misconduct' under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
With the severe judgment doled out by the Bombay High Court against him, the erstwhile Mumbai Congress Chief Kripashankar Singh joined the league of party members who have been embroiled in controversies and scams. Close on the heels of the court's judgment came the announcement of his resignation, citing the party's disastrous performance in the recently concluded BMC elections. AICC in-charge for the state Mohan Prakash took pains to reiterate that the resignation had been submitted a day prior to the court's judgment.
In a fix: After Kripashankar Singh's exit the party will have to scout for
yet another 'clean' face to lead its city unit. File pic
Responding to the development, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said yesterday that the government would honour the court directives. The directive, which orders an investigation of his disproportionate assets, came as a fresh blow to the party's already flagging fortunes, which has in recent times suffered embarrassment on account of the shocking Adarsh housing society scam that put three former Chief Ministers -- Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan -- in the dock.
Crisis for the Congress party deepened when the Adarsh scam was followed by the resignation of the then CM Ashok Chavan. The party was left with no choice but to depute the then Minster of State in the PMO -- Prithviraj Chavan -- who was known for his squeaky clean image.
Even before his name was embroiled in the Adarsh scam, the former chief minister for the state and Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had resigned in the wake of the 26/11 terror attacks. His ill-fated visit to the savaged Taj Hotel with producer-director Ram Gopal Verma in tow had invited its fair share of scathing criticism. The passage of time did not do much to help his reputation, with Deshmukh drawing flak from the Supreme Court for his role in the Khamgaon-based money-lending case. The SC had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakhon the state government in relation to the same.
The party's defence rests on the claim that a faction within was behind the campaign to dislodge Singh from the coveted post of Congress' city chief. Even if this contention were to be accepted, the court's directive and the subsequent investigation of Singh's assets based on details provided by petitioner Sanjay Tiwari is sure to give rise to its own share of embarrassment, which will haunt the party in future.
The party has reacted strongly to the petitioner's claim that Singh was hand in glove with tainted former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, replete with details of their financial transactions he recorded in his diary. This angle needs to be investigated.
The party is now neck-deep in trouble -- mired in a quagmire of scams -- both at state and national levels. After Singh's exit the party will have to scout for yet another 'clean' face to lead its city unit. Given the present scenario, the hunt is sure to be a difficult one. To add to its woes, factional feuds within the party have reached a crescendo of unease and dissent. With its tally dwindling from 71 to 50, tough times lie ahead for the Congress.
The directive against Singh
While issuing its directive against Singh yesterday, the High Court ordered the commissioner of police to obtain sanction from the government to prosecute Singh. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi has also ordered the police to collect documentary evidence regarding all movable and immovable property owned by Singh and his family members, including his wife, son and daughter-in-law. The family is also likely to be prosecuted for aiding Singh in his misdemeanors. The directive was issued after the court heard a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Sanjay Tiwari, who alleged that the Congress MLA had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The PIL has been kept pending, but the court has directed the police to file a compliance report on April 19. Tiwari had alleged in the petition that Singh had been close to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who is currently in jail for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Hawala scam. He alleged that several monetary transactions had taken place between the two. Kripashankar's counsels had opposed the PIL, calling it politically motivated and one that served BJP's interests. Kripashankar's lawyer had pleaded a stay on the order, which the court rejected. The court ordered that the PIL lodged by Tiwari be treated as an FIR, and the report submitted by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in March 2011 showing Kripashankar's income and expenditure be treated as part of the investigation. | 
