Pune: The magistrate court in Baramati issued summons to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar over his alleged statement made in 2014 during the Lok Sabha campaign for his cousin Supriya Sule . Pawar, in one of his speeches during the campaign in Baramati parliamentary constituency, threatened to cut off the water supply to villagers if they did not vote for Supriya. In an order passed on Tuesday, the court summoned Pawar for a hearing on Dec 16 in connection with an offence under section 171-F ( undue influence in elections ) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Earlier in 2017, the court directed police to investigate the allegations made by former IPS officer Suresh Khopade, who contested the Lok Sabha election against Sule in 2014. The investigation report disclosed that the witnesses present at the time of the alleged incident denied the allegations, and the investigation officer did not obtain the sample CD of the alleged audio-video clip for voice examination. In the latest order, judicial magistrate first class D P Pujari said, "On minutely scrutinising all evidence produced by the complainant, it comes to knowledge that there are sufficient grounds to take cognisance of the allegations made by the complainant.
" The court noted that since the investigation officer failed to obtain material evidence —voice examination of the alleged audio-video clip— in such a situation, much importance cannot be given to the report filed by him..