Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has demanded the resignation of BJP leader and Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil after the Ahilyanagar district police registered a case against him and 54 others, including directors of a sugar mill, for allegedly obtaining loans worth nearly Rs 9 crore in the names of 10,000 farmers using forged documents.

“The Supreme Court has ordered that a case be filed against Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil. I had raised this issue of bogus loans taken in the names of 10,000 farmers three years ago. At the time, a minister said my head was not in the right place. Now will Fadnavis say that the Supreme Court’s head is not in the right place? If a minister in the cabinet has compelled the Supreme Court to direct a fraud case, then, on moral grounds, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil should be immediately removed. The Chief Minister must act now,” Raut said.

Advertisement

Balasaheb Kerunath Vikhe, a sugarcane cultivator and member of the Padmashri Vikhe Patil Sahakari Karkhana (cooperative sugar mill), who originally filed the complaint that led to the Supreme Court order, has demanded that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resign to ensure an impartial investigation.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sushma Andhare also demanded Patil’s resignation, stating, “It is a matter of great shame that after cases against former minister Dhananjay Munde and current ministers Jayakumar Gore and Manikrao Kokate, it has now emerged that Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who runs a vast empire, diverted money obtained from nationalised banks—taken in the names of 10,000 farmers—to his own accounts instead of crediting them to the rightful beneficiaries.”

“It is deeply unfortunate that a wealthy individual has robbed ordinary farmers. This is a disgraceful incident for the Mahayuti government. A case has been registered at Loni police station following the Supreme Court’s order. How can such a corrupt leader be allowed to continue in office? We demand his immediate resignation,” Andhare added.

Significantly, the Supreme Court has directed the investigating officers to submit a report within eight weeks but has also ruled that no coercive action should be taken against the accused in the meantime. Consequently, a case of fraud has been registered at the Loni police station against Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, former minister Annasaheb Mhaske, the then sugar commissioner, and 54 others, including the former chairman and directors of the Padmashri Vikhe Patil Sahakari Karkhana, as well as officials from the Union Bank of India and the Bank of India.

The police filed the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code after a magistrate’s court, acting on a petition under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, ordered the police to initiate an investigation.

According to the complaint, the alleged irregularities occurred in 2004, when the then sugar mill management prepared forged loan proposals in the names of 10,000 member-farmers. The accused reportedly secured loans of Rs 3.11 crore and Rs 5.74 crore—amounting to Rs 9 crore—through collusion with allegedly corrupt bank officials.

However, the loan amounts were allegedly never deposited into the farmers’ accounts. Instead, the funds were siphoned off by sugar mill officials and bank staff. The accused also reportedly benefited from a government farm loan waiver scheme.