New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse and his daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse, who is Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha member, have been asked to pay a Rs 137 crore fine for allegedly excavating soil without permission from their land.
On October 6, government authorities in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra issued a notice to them directing the same, news agency PTI reported.
According to the notice, they “illegally” excavated 1.18 lakh brass of murum (fragmented weathered rock) and black stone, without taking any “additional permission” from the authorities to excavate the soil.
The land, where the excavation took place belongs to Eknath Khadse, his wife Mandakini Khadse, daughter Rohini Khadse and daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse, it said.
The fine amount of Rs 137,14,81,883 should be paid within 15 days from the date of the issuance of the notice, it added.
Eknath Khadse was with the BJP for around four decades. He quit the party and joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in 2020. He is currently a member of the Maharashtra legislative council.
Khadse was at one point a prime contender for the chief minister’s position and second only to Devendra Fadnavis in the Maharashtra BJP.
His daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse represents the Raver Lok Sabha seat.