Gadkari’s company, with RSS chief Bhagwat, Fadnavis as shareholders, dupes over 1,300 shareowners

A petition in a Nagpur court accuses Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of fraudulently transferring a cooperative society’s plot and mortgaging it to secure a loan of ₹42 Crore

Gadkari’s company, with RSS chief Bhagwat, Fadnavis as shareholders, dupes over 1,300 shareowners
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Vishwadeepak

In a petition filed in a Nagpur court, two former shareholders of a an industrial cooperative society Polysack , Bhagwandas Rathi and Ajay, have accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of duping 1,300 shareholders among whom were the present RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and the Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The petition accuses Gadkari of having mortgaged a plot of land belonging to the cooperative to secure a loan of ₹42 Crore from Saraswat Cooperative Bank Ltd based in Nagpur in 2012.

This, the petition alleges, was done after transferring the land to a company owned by Gadkari, then shutting down the cooperative without the consent of other shareholders and thereafter mortgaging the land to enable another Gadkari owned company to secure the loan.

The petition holds that the plot of the cooperative society was first transferred to Purti Solar System, without the knowledge of the shareholders. And then it was mortgaged to enable Purti’s sister concern, GMT Mining, which has Gadkari’s sons—Nikhil and Sarang—as directors to secure the loan.


One of the petitioners Bhagwandas Rathi worked as Departmental Assistant in the Engineering department at Model Mills while the other petitioner Ajay is said to be a social worker.

The petitioners allege that forged documents were used in collusion with government officials and subsequently all incriminating documents that could be produced as evidence of the fraudulent mortgage were destroyed.

Polysack Industrial Society came into existence in April 1989 but was curiously allotted a plot measuring 4,950 square metres and financial assistance of ₹25 lakh in 1987by the Maharashtra Government, two years before it was finally registered and started functioning.

Records available with NH indicate that Polysack Industrial Society was registered on April 4, 1989 while the plot was allotted to the Society on January 14, 1987, on a lease of 99 years. ₹99,000 was paid as premium by Polysack Industrial Society.

The office of Polysack Industrial Co-operative, having registration no NGP/CTY/PRD/1/518/88-89, was run from the house of Gadkari till 2003. In 2003 the society was unilaterally wound up by the Union Minister and the office stopped functioning.

Rathi, when contacted, explained the delay in filing the case by claiming that since all evidence had been destroyed, he had no basis to file the case earlier. However, in the past few years he was able to collect information through several RTI applications.

"It is a clear violation of rules, but nobody questioned him, including Mohan Bhagwat, who was himself a shareholder (bearing number 923) and Devendra Fadnavis(shareholder number 741) among others. Devendra Fadnavis's brother, Ashish Fadnavis was also a shareholder of the industrial society but he too maintained silence," he added.


The petitioners allege that forged documents were used in collusion with government officials and subsequently all incriminating documents that could be produced as evidence of the fraudulent mortgage were destroyed.

The Cooperative Society Act of 1960 clearly lays down that property of cooperative societies cannot be transferred to individuals or companies, he pointed out.

“They have therefore committed an offence under Sections 420 (Cheating) 467 (Forgery), 468(Forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document) and 472 (Making or possessing counterfeit seal) of the Indian Penal code,” the petition says.

A close relative of Nitin Gadkari Kamlakar Totade has also been made a respondent.

Bhagwandas Rathi had written multiple letters to various Government agencies, including the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) but had received no response from anywhere.

Bhagwandas has claimed:

  • That no information is available in government records about the transfer of plot no. J-17, MIDC, Hingma, Nagpur, or its mortgage with Saraswat Co-operative Bank, Nagpur.
  • There is no record that the co-operative society sought permission from the Cooperative Department for mortgaging the plot.
  • The share capital of ₹ 25 lakh collected by the Society from the government of Maharashtra is outstanding and the other relevant information is not available.
  • Maharashtra government has shifted the blame to the Registrar of Co-operative societies and washed its hands off.

National Herald sought the response of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and mailed to him the following questions:

  1. Have you received any intimation from the court (about the case)?
  2. If yes, have you filed your response to the court?
  3. Would you deny the allegations made against you in the petition? If so,
  4. Did you consult your shareholders before mortgaging the plot mentioned in the petition?
  5. Did you consult Mohan Bhagwat and Devendra Fadnavis before mortgaging the plot?

(This report will be updated as and when we receive the Union Minister’s response)

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