Team Herald

PANJIM: In the matter of anticipatory bail plea of Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Chandrakant (Babu) Kavalekar in the disproportionate assets case, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Monday sought permissions from the special court to place on record the latest investigation report.

The special court, while adjourning the hearing to August 20, allowed ACB to place on record the investigation report. The court also said that the arguments in the matter have to be completed within a week and that no further permission shall be granted to ACB to place on record any more investigation reports.

ACB had booked Kavalekar for purchasing properties in Kerala worth more than his known source of income. Police had filed a case against the Congress leader under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2012 following media reports about his alleged involvement in an illegal allotment of plots.

ACB had started an inquiry into Kavalekar’s assets, including some properties in Kerala, in the same year and submitted a preliminary report to the government in 2013.

In 2013, ACB had received information that Kavalekar, then chairman of  (GIDC), had acquired various properties in Kerala. 

Accordingly, ACB started preliminary investigations and conducted a verification drive into his entire tenure, from the time he was elected as MLA, till 2013. 

ACB found that Kavalekar purchased around 14 properties worth crores of rupees in Kerala.

The ACB team that visited Mumbai to trace the companies that had lent several crores of rupees in loans to Kavalekar, found that the entities did not exist.