Team Herald
PANJIM: In a major setback for BJP’s Shiroda candidate Subhash Shirodkar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) did not grant the permission to release second instalment of Rs 9.24 cr to Shirodkar’s Vedanta Real Estates till the completion of election process.
The Chief Electoral Officer had forwarded Revenue Department’s letter seeking permission to make the payment to the company, to the ECI on April 11.
“ECI has informed that the Commission has decided that the proposal is to be deferred till the completion of the Election process,” the letter issued by Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Sangeeta Naik stated on Friday.
The State Industries Department had purchased land in Shiroda from Shirodkar for Rs 70 crore. An initial payment of around Rs 13 crore has already been made while the second instalment of Rs 9.24 cr was due. Due to the Model Code of Conduct the instalment remained pending.
A letter by Revenue Secretary Nila Mohanan had said the department was in receipt of a proposal from the Collector (South) wherein it was requested to inform whether the Model Code of Conduct is applicable for making payment of second instalment amounting to Rs 9,24,13,307.50 to Vedanta Real Estate Developers represented through its four directors namely Umesh Shirodkar, Satyesh Shirodkar, Amit Shirodkar and Subash Shirodkar.
The CEO office had also expressed inability to grant permission for clearance of the payment but referred the matter to ECI for decision.
