Mumbai Mar 30 PTI The Aam Aadmi Party AAP on Wednesday held a protest and demanded the arrest of Maharashtra BJP leader and MLC Pravin Darekar over his alleged role in a fraud at Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank where he is a directorAAP workers staged the protest in the afternoon in front of the BJP office at Nariman Point in South Mumbai and demanded his resignationDarekar who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council hit back at the Arvind Kejriwal-led party calling its protest a nautanki drama and termed fraud allegation against him as baselessDuring the protest the AAP supporters raised slogans against DarekarAs the protest outside the BJP office continued police arrived at the spot to disperse the agitators an official saidSome of the AAP activists were taken into custody put into police vans and taken to the Azad Maidan the citys official protesting ground he saidEarlier in a tweet put out from their official Twitter handle the AAP Mumbai had informed that they are going to stage a protest in front of the BJP office over Darekars alleged involvement in a Rs 2000-crore fraud at the bankDarekar said he would file a defamation case against AAP leadersSpeaking to reporters the BJP leader said What the Aam Adami Party did today was nothing but a nautanki There were hardly 10-12 people protesting against me The only outcome of this circus was the AAP gaining some publicity Commenting on corruption charges levelled against him by the AAP the BJP legislator said I wonder how can one commit a fraud of Rs 2000 crore when the bank has reported a profit of Rs 15 crore Such baseless charges will be countered with defamation suits They can not be the judge of a banks action when we already have institutions like the judiciary Similar allegations against me have been levelled by Congress leaders such as Bhai Jagtap and Nana Patole I will take similar action against them as well Darekar saidThe BJP leader is facing a case of alleged cheating filed by AAP leader Dhananjay Shinde for contesting elections for the post of director on the board of Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank from the labour categoryThe Bombay High Court on Tuesday extended by two weeks the interim protection from arrest granted last week by a sessions court in the city to Darekar in the cheating case PTI DC ND RSY RSY

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 17 (ANI): Mumbai Sessions Court fixed March 21 as the next date hearing on the anticipatory bail application of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Pravin Darekar in a bank fraud case.

Mumbai Dec 24 PTI The Maharashtra Legislative Council on Friday unanimously passed the Shakti Criminal Laws Maharashtra Amendment Bill 2020 which provides for stringent punishment including death penalty for crimes against women and children The state Assembly had cleared the bill modelled on the Disha Act of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday It will now be sent for the Presidents assent The bill prescribes that probe of such crimes be completed in 30 days from the date of the incident and makes it mandatory for social media platforms and internet service providers to share information if required by investigation officials Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil tabled it in the Upper House of the legislature I would not claim it is a foolproof Act but it would expedite investigation and work as a deterrent The Act not only protects women but also imposes fine of Rs three lakh if someone tries to misuse it and tarnish the image of a person by filing a false complaint he said On the provision of death penalty for rape he said Not every convicted person will get capital punishment The decision will depend on the severity of the crime If necessary a 30-day extension can be given for completing probe Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar said Forensic laboratories and cyber cells are facing shortage of manpower infrastructure and funding The state government should make necessary provisions for them I welcome the provision to set up special courts to look into such crimes at the district level But they should get sufficient infrastructure new judges and staff he added Walse-Patil said the state government has already decided that students who complete cyber and forensic security courses will be offered internship This will address the shortage of staff in cyber security cells and forensic labs the minister said Council chairman-in-chair Neelam Gorhe said I congratulate everyone who helped with the formulation of the Shakti Act I urge leader of opposition Darekar who belongs to the BJP to ensure that the bill gets signed at the earliest so that the Act will come into force PTI ND BNM KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 23 PTI Opposition members walked out of the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Thursday after claiming that a member from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA allegedly referred to farmers as power stealers Later speaking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar said they had raised the issue of farmers electricity connections being disconnected by the state power utility We wanted a discussion on the plight of farmers and sought some relief for the farming community However a member from the MVA asked what about farmers who steal electricity Such a question was completely irrelevant as farmers have been severely affected because of various restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus the BJP leader said He said the demand for produce by cultivators has gone down which also affected the income of farmers Unfortunately we noticed such an insensitive attitude of a Council member towards farmers hence we staged a walk out Darekar said The BJP leader claimed he did not remember the name of the MVA member who made those comments in the House Darekar also expressed disappointment with Maharashtra Minister of State for Energy Prajakt Tanpure Our calling attention was regarding farmers issues and how the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company can come up with policies that would be lenient towards agriculture sector Tanpure preferred to point out at the Union government and its policies and tried to pass the blame the BJP leader said PTI ND GK GK

Mumbai Sep 25 PTI BJP leader Pravin Darekar on Saturday alleged irregularities in awarding a tender to a private firm tasked to conduct the examinations to recruit staff for the state Health Department and demanded a probe either by the CID CBI or by retired judges against state health minister Rajesh Tope and others a day after the exams were postponed due to the contractor firms inability to hold them On the other hand Tope assured that the exams will be held and action would be taken against the company concerned He said candidates faced inconvenience due to mistakes in hall tickets and allocation of the examination centres which was the responsibility of the firm Addressing a press conference at the BJP office here on Saturday Darekar the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council alleged the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government had issued several corrigenda tweaked terms and conditions and relaxed tender conditions for awarding the tender to the contractor While awarding contracts to the private company the MVA government changed government resolutions GRs issued time to time the BJP leader alleged Alleging that a scam has been exposed Darekar said Maharashtra health minister the state health secretary health director IT minister minister of state and secretary responsible for this scam should be investigated by the CBI CID or by a retired judge He said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had told the Legislative Council on March 2 this year that in the event of any irregularities in the conduct of the exams for class C and D staff of the Health Department the said exam will be cancelled and action will be taken against a concerned company Had that inquiry been conducted lakhs of students would have saved the trouble Darekar said He demanded that recruitment contracts awarded to the said private firm by other departments of the Maharashtra government be cancelled The health minister should not announce fresh dates until this examination is conducted through MPSC Maharashtra Public Service Commission the BJP leader said Meanwhile speaking to reporters in Jalna Tope blamed the Information Technology IT Department for the cancellation of exams at the last moment Over 8 lakh job aspirants had applied for 6200 posts in the group C and group D categories which were scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday The IT department had roped in Nyasa Communication Pvt Ltd for making arrangements for this exam but the company expressed its inability to hold the exam on time due to non-preparation on its part he told reporters Tope said the health department prepared question papers for this exam while the company was supposed to conduct the exam and issue hall tickets but it failed to do so on time The company is guilty of not working on time An action would be taken against that company Candidates faced inconvenience due to mistakes in hall tickets and allocations of the examination centres he added The private firm which got selected through a tender process to conduct the examinations had informed that it cannot do so on Saturday and Sunday after which the state government decided to postpone it to a later date The company informed the state government today evening at 7 pm leaving no other option to the state All the preparations such as setting up a dedicated website acceptance of online applications issuing of hall tickets conducting written exams and preparation of the merit list etc were the responsibility of the company Tope had said earlier PTI KK COR NSK NSK NSK

Thane Sep 24 PTI Senior BJP leader Pravin Darekar on Friday attacked the Maharashtra government over the law and order situation in view of the gang-rape of a 15-year-old girl in Dombivali in Thane district some days ago and said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should set things right in the state before commenting about other parts of the country Crimes against women were on the rise in the state but a suggestion by the opposition that the issue be discussed at length by all parties was not accepted by the CM he alleged Manpada police station under whose jurisdiction the crime was perpetrated should be split into two for the sake of better policing Darekar the leader of opposition in the state Legislative Council said The girl was allegedly gang-raped multiple times over a period of eight months in Thane district The alleged incidents took place at different locations including Dombivli Badlapur Murbad and Rabale between January 29 and September 22 this year The victim has named 33 accused police have said PTI COR BNM BNM BNM

Thane Aug 31 PTI BJP leader Pravin Darekar on Tuesday said the attack on a senior woman official of the Thane Municipal Corporation during an anti-hawking drive a day earlier was due to political support and organised crime and demanded that the accused be charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kavita Pimpale and her bodyguard were attacked by a knife-wielding hawker identified by police as Amar Yadav while she was overseeing the removal of unauthorised hawkers in Kasarvadavli junction on Monday evening leading to three of her fingers getting severed Darekar the leader of opposition in the state legislative council who met the official in hospital said Registering an offence of murder against the accused will not suffice He must be charged under MCOCA Look at his courage to carry a knife around and attack a civic official This is nothing but a result of political support and organised crime He added that a draft policy on hawkers that was made during the previous BJP government under Devendra Fadnavis must be finalised by the MVA government on priority Meanwhile Thane Additional Collector Vaidehi Ranade said the case must be tried in a fast-tract court adding that the attack had demoralised 40000 government and civic staff in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Several government and civic employees on Tuesday held an emergency meeting at the collectorate here to condemn the incident PTI COR BNM BNM BNM