Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has ordered the forfeiture of Rs 1 lakh submitted as a security deposit by former MLA Anil Gote for filing a public interest litigation (PIL) without legal standing. The bench, comprising Justice Sandipkumar C. More and Justice Y.G. Khobragade, noted that Gote was neither a complainant, investor, nor resident within the bank’s operational jurisdiction and therefore had no locus standi, wasting valuable court time.
The bench directed that ₹50,000 each from the forfeited amount be given to the Mata Anusayabai Government Women’s Shelter Home in Nanded and the Bhavani Vidyarthi Kalyan Pratishthan in Arvi. The PIL was dismissed on December 16, 2025.
Background: Complaints had earlier been filed alleging that Dadasaheb Rawal Cooperative Bank had granted illegal loans. Following an inquiry ordered by the judicial magistrate in Dondaicha, bank employees and borrowers were named as accused. Investigations were conducted by the Crime Investigation Department, with a special audit report submitted in 2015 and an interim report in 2022. The original complainant later withdrew his application. In 2023, Gote filed a petition seeking action against the bank’s directors. While the bench admitted it as a PIL, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kale highlighted that Gote had no legal right to file it. The bench observed that, as a third party with no personal or financial loss, Gote had filed the petition to exert pressure on investigating agencies and the accused through the court. On these grounds, the petition was dismissed and the security deposit forfeited.