Mumbai: In a sudden development on Friday, the Mahayuti government decided to appoint a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged conspiracy to frame Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde, who were the opposition leader and Urban Development Minister when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power.

About The Alleged Conspiracy

The alleged conspiracy involved registering false criminal cases against the duo. The SIT will be headed by Satyanarayan Chaudhary, who oversees the law-and-order wing of the Mumbai Police, according to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the State Home Department. The decision to constitute the SIT follows information shared by BJP MLC Pravin Darekar in the state legislative council during the winter session in December 2024, according to the GR.

According to Darekar, a conspiracy was hatched to register false cases against Fadnavis and Shinde. He stated that he had evidence in the form of an audio clip. It is also significant that the home department was under the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when the MVA was in power. The department was headed by Anil Deshmukh until early July, followed by Dilip Walse Patil. While Deshmukh is with the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP, Walse Patil joined the Ajit Pawar-led group that rebelled in July 2023.

The SIT includes Rajiv Jain, DIG of the State Reserve Police Force; Navnath Dhavle, DCP, Mumbai Police; Adikrao Pol, ACP, Mumbai; and Satyanarayan Chaudhary. The SIT has been instructed to complete its probe within 30 days.

Mumbai: A tragic accident occurred in Worli, where a speeding dumper rammed into two bikers, killing one on the spot. The deceased has been identified as Rohan Gupta (21), while the other rider, Sanket Virendrakumar Sharma (21), sustained serious injuries. Based on Sharma’s complaint, the N.M. Joshi Marg Police have registered a case against the dumper driver, Darshan Subhash Kasdekar (27) and arrested him. Further investigation is underway.

According to the N.M. Joshi Marg Police, the accident took place around 9:30 PM on January 30 near Birla Centurion Mill Gate No. 01 to 07. Complainant Sanket Sharma and his friend Rohan Gupta were riding a bike on Pandurang Budhkar Marg when a speeding and negligent dumper driver hit them near Birla Centurion Mill. The impact threw both riders off their bike, causing severe injuries. Gupta succumbed to his injuries on the spot, while Sharma survived with serious wounds. The police have registered a case and are continuing their investigation.

Mumbai: The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that plastic flowers are not included in the list of banned single-use plastic items as they do not meet the criteria of “high littering potential and low utility”. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in an affidavit, stated that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had forwarded the matter for consideration but without any supporting analysis.

The affidavit was filed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by the Growers Flowers Council of India (GFCI), which sought a ban on plastic flowers in Maharashtra. The PIL argued that plastic flowers, particularly those less than 100 microns thick, contribute to environmental pollution and should be included in the list of prohibited singleuse plastic items.

The High Court had earlier issued notices to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), CPCB, and MoEFCC, seeking their response on the demand for a ban. In October 2024, the court had asked the Centre whether it had considered CPCB’s recommendations for banning plastic flowers.

The MoEFCC, in its affidavit, clarified that an expert committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC) had identified 40 single-use plastic items for detailed analysis. However, plastic flowers were not among them.

Refuting the petitioner’s claims, the affidavit stated that the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, do not specify a minimum thickness requirement of 100 microns for plastic flowers.

The government argued, “The petitioner states that… violation of this thickness requirement has resulted in difficulties in decomposing. This is wrong and misleading. There is no such provision in Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016,” the MoEFCC affidavit emphasises.

The plea also highlighted that the Maharashtra government had issued a notification on March 8, 2022, banning several single-use plastic items.