Fisheries scam: Gujarat HC rejects discharge pleas of two ex-BJP ministers

The Gujarat High Court has rejected the pleas filed by former BJP ministers Parshottam Solanki and Dileep Sanghani seeking their discharge in an alleged Rs 400-crore fisheries scam.

The court of Justice Hemant Prachchhak on Friday dismissed the petitions moved by Solanki, Sanghani and one Arjun Suthariya challenging a March 12, 2021, order of a special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court rejecting their discharge applications in the case.

Earlier, the HC had stayed criminal proceedings against the ex-ministers.

While rejecting their pleas, the court on Friday extended its stay on criminal proceedings against the former ministers for another four weeks.

The alleged scam is from 2008 when Solanki was the minister of state for fisheries and Sanghani was the cabinet minister for agriculture in Gujarat.

At that time, a Palanpur-based businessman, Ishaq Maradia, moved the HC alleging that Solanki flouted rules by allotting fishing contracts without following the tendering process.

Marad