Shinde team seeks probe into Uddhav camp’s ‘forged docus’

MUMBAI: The Eknath Shinde faction on Thursday submitted an application before assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking an inquiry to what it said was the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s submission of forged and fabricated documents.
The Shinde group has demanded that Narwekar issue directions to an investigative agency to initiate and conduct a detailed inquiry with respect to the documents tendered in evidence by the UBT camp MLA and whip Sunil Prabhu and his aides and direct that all electronic and communication devices, including computers and mobile phones under the custody of Prabhu, MP Anil Desai and Sena (UBT) party office secretary Vijay Joshi at the legislature party office of the UBT Sena be seized and confiscated.On Thursday, the Shinde team’s lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani continued Prabhu’s cross-examination. During cross-examination, it was also revealed that under the Sena constitution, there was no specific provision to disqualify MLAs under Schedule 10.
Asked by Jethmalani, Prabhu agreed this was the case. The application submitted by the Shinde faction refers to an email sent by the Uddhav faction to Eknath Shinde on June 23, 2022, which contained aletter dated June 22, 2022. The letter, which Prabhu first claimed was sent via WhatsApp but then said it was via email, stated that despite clear notice, Shinde did not care to attend the party meeting and that Shinde had engaged in anti-party activities detrimental to the interests of Shiv Sena. The Shinde faction claimed that on scrutiny of the email which was allegedly issued by some employee working with Shiv Sena to eknath.shinde@gmail.com, it was found that this email id never belonged to Shinde. The Shinde faction has also requested Narwekar to direct Google to produce records of creation of the email, which the Uddhav faction claims belonged to Shinde and also to verify if any letter was sent to this email id from their Shiv Sena legislature party’s official email id.
“The applicant has serious and grave apprehensions that petitioner and his aides shall make an attempt to delete and erase necessary and relevant data which may impact the enquiry and hence pending the enquiry, it may be directed that all electronic and communication devices including computer, laptop, tablet/iPad and mobile phones and all other devices as under custody of Sunil Prabhu, Anil Desai, Vijay Joshi and other employees being used at the Vidhan Sabha Party office of Shiv Sena (UBT) be seized and confiscated,” the Shinde team’s plea stated.