Sanjay Raut threatens legal action over Rs 14000 crore Ladki Bahin scheme payments
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday threatened legal action and criminal cases against the Maharashtra state government, alleging that Rs 14,000 crore of public funds was wrongly disbursed to over 92 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
Speaking on the matter, Raut announced that the process of sending legal notices to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Chief Secretary has already begun. He added that the opposition party is prepared to approach the High Court if required.
The legal threats follow a report on Sunday revealing that more than 92 lakh beneficiaries, who were later declared ineligible after e-KYC and verification, had received an estimated Rs 14,000 crore in benefits before the state government stopped their payments.
Raut compared the controversy to a case of "state capture." He alleged that the government was fully aware of the discrepancies but knowingly allowed the payments to continue before initiating any scrutiny. According to Raut, the list of ineligible recipients included around 29,000 men and thousands of government employees who received money despite being unqualified.
Raut further alleged that the ruling coalition used the welfare scheme to buy votes before the state assembly elections, questioning why the verification exercise was delayed until after polling had concluded.
He demanded that a criminal case of misappropriation of government money be registered against the Eknath Shinde-led cabinet under whose signatures the payments were authorized. Additionally, Raut called for the personal assets of the ministers and senior officials involved in approving the scheme to be attached to recover the disbursed funds.
The Maharashtra government has maintained that the verification exercise was conducted specifically to identify and exclude ineligible beneficiaries. The state has indicated that recovery proceedings will only target specific categories, such as male beneficiaries and government employees. Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare previously stated that the government would not seek recovery from other beneficiaries whose payments were stopped after the verification.
