Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home Department, seems to differ with his junior minister over the issue of police action against Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad from Buldhana district.
On Friday morning, asked about why police had not lodged an FIR against Gaikwad for assaulting MLA hostel canteen staff, Minister of State for Home, Yogesh Kadam told the media that the police cannot act in the absence of a complainant. “Police need a complaint to take action,” Kadam said.
Both Gaikwad and Kadam are leaders from the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena faction. However, speaking on the same issue in the Vidhan Bhavan premises, Fadnavis took a contrary stance. “A complaint is not necessary for police to take action. It is up to the police to decide whether it is a cognisable or non-cognisable offence,” the chief minister said.
On Tuesday night, a video went viral wherein Gaikwad is seen slapping and punching a hostel canteen staff member over the alleged serving of “stale food”. A day later, both Fadnavis and Shinde expressed their displeasure over the MLA’s behaviour and maintained that Gaikwad should have ideally lodged a complaint with the authorities concerned, instead of assaulting the canteen staff.
It is said that the police filed a cognisable offence against Gaikwad later on Friday. Speaking about the incident earlier, Gaikwad maintained that he has done nothing wrong and is willing to face any inquiry in the case.
