Mumbai Mar 24 PTI Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut on Thursday announced immediate suspension of a senior MSEDCL official and a high-level probe against him over corruption and other allegations levelled against the latter Raut made the announcement in the state Assembly after Shiv Sena MLA Dnyanraj Chaugule and others charged Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limiteds MSEDCL deputy director security and enforcement Sumit Kumar with corruption and moral degradation The MLAs accused Kumar of demanding money illegally from a meter reading agency in the MSEDCL taking advantage of his post and threatening other officials In his replying Raut said Kumar is at present posted as deputy director security and enforcement at the Konkan regional office of the MSEDCL The officer has been given additional charge of chief investigation officer the minister added There was also a complaint of moral degradation against him That is the main concern Of the complaints received against him it seems many were made by women employees Hence an order is being issued to immediately suspend Sumit Kumar and for a high-level probe against him he said PTI ENM GK GK

Mumbai Mar 24 PTI The Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill that aims to establish special courts to ensure speedy trial of offences against women and children under the Shakti Act State Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil tabled the bill titled The Maharashtra Exclusive Special Courts for certain offences against women and children under Shakti Law 2020 in the House The bill has been introduced with an aim to conduct trials without delay in cases of certain offences against women and childrenAs per the bill exclusive special courts can be set up or existing courts can be given that rank depending upon the situation Patil said The bill among other provisions provides for appointing special public prosecutor for conducting trials and forming special police teams to probe the offences It was first tabled in the House on December 14 2020 and sent to the joint select committee of the state legislature for discussion The Shakti Criminal Laws Maharashtra Amendment Bill which provides for stricter punishment including death penalty for crimes against women was passed unanimously by both the Houses of the legislature in December last year PTI ENM GK GK

Mumbai Mar 24 PTI The Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill that aims to make use of Marathi language mandatory in official works of local authorities including civic bodies and corporations formed by the state government State minister Subhash Desai said the introduction of the bill was necessitated as the Maharashtra Official Language Act 1964 did not make it mandatory for the local authorities to use Marathi in their official works He also cited examples of the authorities taking advantage of the lack of the provision in the Act It is our effort to do away with that mistake Desai said Any local authority be it established by the state government or the central government or state-run corporations will have to use Marathi while interacting with people and in internal works too he said The minister also said the use of English or Hindi by local authorities for certain government works like communicating with foreign ambassadors has been allowed Speaking on the bill earlier BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar wondered why the love for Marathi surfaces when elections are around He was apparently referring to local body polls including that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC which are due Sagar backed the bill and said all the files must be in Marathi only Countering him Desai said the issue should not be linked to politics Should we not discharge our duties just because the elections are around the corner It is our right to bring the bill Elections will come and go he added PTI ENM GK GK

Mumbai Feb 22 PTI NCP chief Sharad Pawar has conveyed to the Koregaon-Bhima Inquiry Commission that he will not be able to appear before it on February 23-24 Maharashtra minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said this in a video statement on Tuesday and added that Pawar will definitely appear before the probe panel in future The Koregaon-Bhima Inquiry Commission had earlier this month asked Pawar to appear before it on February 23 and 24 to record evidence in connection with the January 2018 violence at a war memorial in Pune district of Maharashtra The panel had earlier summoned Pawar in 2020 but he couldnt appear before it due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown Malik said The commission had called Pawar saheb to appear before it He has submitted to the commission in writing that he wont be able to appear before it this time He has told the panel that he will put forth his version before the commission later Pawar saheb will definitely be present there in the future he added According to the Pune police violence had broken out on January 1 2018 between caste groups near the war memorial during the bicentennial anniversary of the 1818 battle of Koregaon Bhima One person had died and several others including 10 police personnel were injured in the incident The Pune Police had alleged that provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31 2017 in Pune triggered the violence around Koregaon Bhima According to the police the Elgar Parishad conclave organisers had links with Maoists The NCP chief had filed an affidavit before the commission on October 8 2018 In February 2020 social group Vivek Vichar Manch member Sagar Shinde filed an application before the commission seeking the summoning of Sharad Pawar in view of certain statements made by him in media about the 2018 caste violence Meanwhile Malik also said that with the number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra seeing a decline the state health and relief and rehabilitation departments will work out a proposal on relaxations to be given in view of the current situation The chief minister will discuss the same with the task force and take a call The decision taken will be conveyed to people accordingly he added On Monday Maharashtra reported 806 COVID-19 cases The state capital Mumbai reported 96 new COVID-19 cases the lowest single-day rise after April 17 2020 as per official data PTI ENM GK GK