Fisheries scam: court issues process against Gujarat minister

A special court today issued process in the alleged fisheries scam of Rs 450 crore involving Gujarat minister Purushottam Solanki and former minister Dilip Sanghani.
Issuing process by a court means the particular case is triable and the court has taken cognisance of the case. In this case, the court has considered an investigation report submitted by ACB and then issued process against the six accused.
Special Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) court judge of Gandhinagar, Rizwana Ghoghari, issued process against all the six accused, including Solanki, Sanghani along with one former secretary in the alleged fisheries scam and posted the hearing of the case on September 19.

Others, accused in the case are Arun Sutariya, former Fisheries Secretary, Victor Kharadi, former Deputy Secretary in Fisheries department, Kamlesh Tabiyar, former Under Secretary and Chandrika Shah, a former section officer of Fisheries Department.
The case dates back to the year 2008 when Solanki was Minister of State for Fisheries and Sanghani was the cabinet minister. They had allegedly alloted fishing contracts in more than 58 dams in the state without following procedure of tender.
Solanki is at present Minister of State for Animal Husbandry in the state's BJP government led by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
At that time, a Palanpur-based businessman Ishaq Maradia knocked the doors of the Gujarat High Court and alleged that Solanki had flouted rules by allotting contracts without following tendering process.

Maradia had alleged that Solanki, Minister of State for Fisheries in 2008, was involved in the scam by illegally granting contracts for fishing in 58 reservoirs across the state.