Pratibha Patil
Encyclopedia
Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is the 12th President
of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office. She was sworn in as President of India on 25 July 2007, succeeding Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
and after defeating her rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
.
She is a member of the Indian National Congress
(INC), was nominated for the presidency by the ruling United Progressive Alliance
and Indian Left.
Court and worked on various social activities, especially, for the upliftment of poor women.
She was elected for the Jalgaon Assembly constituency when aged 27. She was elected four times consecutively for Muktainagar
(formerly Edlabad), Maharashtra
, as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly between 1962 and 1985. Thereafter, she served as a Member of Parliament
in the Rajya Sabha
from 1985 to 1990. In 1991 she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the tenth Lok Sabha
, representing the Amravati
constituency and stayed in the role until 1996. She has the distinction of not having lost a single election that she contested to date.
She was the 24th Governor of Rajasthan
between 2004–2007, and the first woman to hold that office.
. UPA chairwoman Sonia Gandhi
proposed her: her loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family
was widely perceived to be a major factor in her nomination. With the possibility that she might become the first female President of India
, Sonia Gandhi described her nomination as a "historic occasion".
Before leaving Jaipur
for New Delhi
, she thanked Gandhi for choosing her and said that her first job as president would be to make the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
started by UPA a success. In Delhi she asserted that she would not be a rubber stamp president.
She faced Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the NDA candidate, in a straight contest. Her campaign was boosted by the decision of UNPA
to abstain from voting.
The Leader of the Opposition, L K Advani, unsuccessfully sought the intervention of Election Commission of India
to force Patil to declare her assets.
Shiv Sena
, an important ally of NDA, declared its support of Patil on the grounds that she would be the first Maharashtrian
to hold the office. This decision caused problems for the BJP-Sena alliance.
held on 19 July 2007 defeating her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by over 300,000 votes. She took office as India's first woman president on 25 July 2007.
, which runs hostels for working women in New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune; and an engineering college in Jalgaon. She also founded a cooperative sugar factory known as Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, Mukta Nager and a cooperative bank named after herself as Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
. The bank ceased trading in February 2003 due to having its license revoked as a consequence of financial irregularities.
(BJP) have opposed her in its political campaigning. BJP leader Arun Shourie
wrote two articles published as a booklet titled Does This Tainted Person Deserve to Become President of India?, and another BJP leader, Arun Jaitley
, announced the launch of a website called Know Pratibha Patil, which contains various media reports and documents concerning the alleged questionable financial dealings of both Patil and her family.
While the BJP tried to build a strong moral opposition to her nomination as president in 2007, it was advised not to challenge the nomination on legal grounds. However, the BJP's National Democratic Alliance
ally the Shiv Sena
supported her nomination for president on the grounds that she was from Maharashtra.
was filed before the Supreme Court of India
challenging her 2007 presidential nomination. The claim was referred to the various allegations against Patil and her family members and sought the cancellation of her nomination papers on the constitutional grounds of her being an undischarged bankrupt who had not cleared a debt to the public exchequer and others.
The court ruled that it could not act on unsubstantiated allegations, and rejected the petition as being without merit at the admission stage. Furthermore, it queried the intention of the petitioner and said that it was more of a "private interest litigation". The court ruled:
The petitioner then approached the Election Commission of India seeking her disqualification. The Election Commission response was that:
Following this, the petitioner again approached the court, contending that the Election Commission had not applied its mind to the matter, and sought quashing of the commission's order.
In another case a Delhi-based NGO has also filed a petition before the Delhi High Court
alleging that Patil being Managing Trustee of Mumbai-based Shram Sadhana Bombay Trust, which is under the control of state government, was holding the office of profit
making her ineligible to contest the President's election. The High Court deferred the hearing until after election.
defended Pratibha Patil and dismissed the charges as "mud-slinging". On Monday 2 July 2007 breaking her silence Patil described the allegations leveled against her as "false, malicious and baseless".
Prominent and controversial allegations against her are:
, an aide of Leader of the Opposition L. K. Advani.
On 13 July 2007 Rajani Patil petitioned the Bombay High Court, demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) investigate Pratibha Patil and her brother in connection with the allegations before the presidential election. The court directed the CBI accordingly in order to remove the possibility that presidential immunity might come into play if Prabitha Patil were elected.
The lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said that two CDs have surfaced which contain incriminating material against Patil's brother. The CDs contain footage of the elections for the district Congress presidentship in Jalgaon. Jethmalani offered to place both CDs on record, saying "These contain vital information showing the political link behind the murder."
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
was a cooperative bank set up by Patil in 1973 to empower women. The license for it to operate as a bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India
for alleged financial irregularities. Among the irregularities listed were the loans policy of the bank and loan interest waivers given, among others, to Patil's relatives. Patil was one of the chairpersons of the bank and a number of her relatives were also directors.
She is currently one of 34 respondents in a legal case at the Bombay High Court
relating to allegations of mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its directors.
In her defence, her supporters point out that she was not the founding president of the bank, and that she held the job of the chairwoman for a little over a month. They also point out that the RBI has never mentioned Patil's name in the report, and the court has not charge-sheeted her. Communist leader A.B. Bardhan cast doubts on the credibility of the official employees' union of the bank, which has been highlighting the issue of mismanagement since 2002, drawing attention to the fact that it is associated with the BMS
union led by the BJP.
A cooperative sugar factory – Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana
– of which Pratibha was a founder member, was declared a defaulter for failing to repay a Rs
17.5 crore (Rs 175 million) bank loan. Pratibha Patil had been its chairwoman and director until she became the Governor of Rajasthan. The loan was taken in 1994 when Pratibha was its chairwoman, but the factory has failed to repay the full amount. The bank sealed the factory on 23 January 2007 after issuing many reminders. This was the second occasion the mill had been sealed. Earlier, it was sealed in January 2006, but was reopened after the board of directors headed by G. N. Patil – younger brother of Pratibha Patil – requested for an opportunity to improve the performance of the mill.
In 2002 the chief commissioner of central excise and customs, Pune
, issued notice to the factory for evading excise duty resulting from diversion of export-oriented sugar by the factory into domestic market.
Dubbing as "malign campaign" the allegations, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, defended Pratibha and noted that there was never any enquiry under Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act against her. He also pointed out that as many as 74 mills were issued notices in December 2006, and it was "unfortunate that only one particular case has been brought up in the media". Pawar said most of the mills had failed to repay the loans because of persistent drought affecting sugarcane production, leading these mills to go sick.
Nevertheless in 2007, Manohar Lal Sharma, an independent advocate, filed a public interest litigation
petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Mrs Pratibha Patil was an undischarged insolvent relating to the Sant Muktabai Sugar Factory and hence disqualified to remain in the office of the presidency.
state minister Amin Khan
addressing a meeting of the district INC party was quoted by the local media as saying Pratibha Patil was rewarded with the presidency because "she used to make tea and cook food at Indira Gandhi's residence" without expecting anything in return. Khan later said that he was misquoted and did not mean any disrespect, and resigned from his post over the controversy.
"Dadiji ke shareer mein baba aye... Maine unse baat ki" (Baba entered Devi’s body and he communicated to me through her). Reporters began to report on the message she received of a "divine indication" of great responsibility coming her way.
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office. She was sworn in as President of India on 25 July 2007, succeeding Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a renowned aerospace engineer, professor , and first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram , who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007...
and after defeating her rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the 11th Vice-President of India. He served in that position from August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college following the death of Krishan Kant, until he resigned on July 21, 2007, after losing the presidential election to Pratibha...
.
She is a member of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
(INC), was nominated for the presidency by the ruling United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
and Indian Left.
Early life
Pratibha Devisingh Patil was born in Jalgaon District, Maharashtra. She received her early education from RR Vidyalaya, Jalgaon and later completed her Masters in Political Science and Economics at the Moolji Jaitha College, Jalgaon. She obtained her Bachelor of Law degree from Government Law College, Mumbai. She took part in sports and won several shields at various inter-collegiate tournaments. Even as a MLA, she pursued her studies as a law student.Career
Pratibha Patil started her professional career as a practising lawyer at the Jalgaon DistrictJalgaon District
Jalgaon district is a district of Maharashtra. It was formerly known as East Khandesh district. It has an area of 11,765 km², and a population of 3,682,690 of which 71.4% were rural....
Court and worked on various social activities, especially, for the upliftment of poor women.
She was elected for the Jalgaon Assembly constituency when aged 27. She was elected four times consecutively for Muktainagar
Muktainagar
Muktainagar is a small town situated on National Highway No. 6 and now become the Ashian Highway 46 at the northern border of Maharashtra in India...
(formerly Edlabad), Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly between 1962 and 1985. Thereafter, she served as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
from 1985 to 1990. In 1991 she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the tenth Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
, representing the Amravati
Amravati
Amravati is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India and the seventh most populous metropolitan area in Maharashtra. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Amravati district...
constituency and stayed in the role until 1996. She has the distinction of not having lost a single election that she contested to date.
She was the 24th Governor of Rajasthan
Governors of Rajasthan
-Governors of Rajasthan:bgcolor=#DDEEFF / 29-See also:* Rajasthan* Governors of India...
between 2004–2007, and the first woman to hold that office.
Presidential Election 2007
On 14 June 2007, United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the ruling alliance of political parties in India headed by the Indian National Congress, and the Indian left nominated her as their candidate for the Presidential Election to be held in July that year. She emerged as a compromise candidate after the Left parties would not agree to the nomination of former Home Minister Shivraj PatilShivraj Patil
Shivraj Vishwanath Patil is an Indian politician and current state Punjab governor and the Administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh. Previously he had been the Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha and served the Manmohan Singh cabinet as the Union Minister of Home Affairs...
. UPA chairwoman Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
proposed her: her loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family
Nehru-Gandhi family
The Nehru–Gandhi family or Nehru - Feroze Gandhi family is an Indian political family which has been dominant in the Indian National Congress for most of India's history since independence...
was widely perceived to be a major factor in her nomination. With the possibility that she might become the first female President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
, Sonia Gandhi described her nomination as a "historic occasion".
Before leaving Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
for New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, she thanked Gandhi for choosing her and said that her first job as president would be to make the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is an Indian job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005...
started by UPA a success. In Delhi she asserted that she would not be a rubber stamp president.
She faced Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the NDA candidate, in a straight contest. Her campaign was boosted by the decision of UNPA
United National Progressive Alliance
Sometimes known as the Third Front. For the Third Front in power between 1996 and 1998, see United Front . For the Third Front in power between 1989 and 1991, see National Front ....
to abstain from voting.
The Leader of the Opposition, L K Advani, unsuccessfully sought the intervention of Election Commission of India
Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...
to force Patil to declare her assets.
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...
, an important ally of NDA, declared its support of Patil on the grounds that she would be the first Maharashtrian
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
to hold the office. This decision caused problems for the BJP-Sena alliance.
Presidency
She won the presidential electionIndian presidential election, 2007
The Election Commission of India held indirect 13th presidential elections of India on 19 July 2007. Pratibha Patil with 638,116 votes won over her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who got 331,306 votes...
held on 19 July 2007 defeating her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by over 300,000 votes. She took office as India's first woman president on 25 July 2007.
Philanthropy
Along with her husband, she set up Vidya Bharati Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, an educational institute which runs a chain of schools and colleges in Amravati, Jalgaon and Mumbai. She also set up Shram Sadhana TrustShram Sadhana Trust
Shram Sadhana Trust is a trust promoted by Pratibha Patil , the nominee of ruling UPA and Indian left for 2007 president of India election.Currently Jyoti Rathore the daughter of Pratibha Patil is the managing trustee of the trust....
, which runs hostels for working women in New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune; and an engineering college in Jalgaon. She also founded a cooperative sugar factory known as Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, Mukta Nager and a cooperative bank named after herself as Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank is a cooperative bank founded by Pratibha Patil, in 1973 in Jalgaon in Maharashtra with the objective of empowering women. Pratibha Patil is a senior leader of Indian National Congress and President of India...
. The bank ceased trading in February 2003 due to having its license revoked as a consequence of financial irregularities.
BJP campaign
The Bharatiya Janata PartyBharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP) have opposed her in its political campaigning. BJP leader Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is an Indian journalist, author, intellectual and politician. He has been an economist with the World Bank , a consultant to the Planning Commission, India, editor of the Indian Express and Times of India and a minister in the government of India . He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay...
wrote two articles published as a booklet titled Does This Tainted Person Deserve to Become President of India?, and another BJP leader, Arun Jaitley
Arun Jaitley
Arun Jaitley is a prominent Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the largest Opposition party in India...
, announced the launch of a website called Know Pratibha Patil, which contains various media reports and documents concerning the alleged questionable financial dealings of both Patil and her family.
While the BJP tried to build a strong moral opposition to her nomination as president in 2007, it was advised not to challenge the nomination on legal grounds. However, the BJP's National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance
The National Democratic Alliance is a name used by political parties of several countries:* National Democratic Alliance for Egypt* National Democratic Alliance * National Democratic Alliance * National Democratic Alliance...
ally the Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...
supported her nomination for president on the grounds that she was from Maharashtra.
Legal challenges to candidature
A Public Interest LitigationPublic interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
was filed before the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
challenging her 2007 presidential nomination. The claim was referred to the various allegations against Patil and her family members and sought the cancellation of her nomination papers on the constitutional grounds of her being an undischarged bankrupt who had not cleared a debt to the public exchequer and others.
The court ruled that it could not act on unsubstantiated allegations, and rejected the petition as being without merit at the admission stage. Furthermore, it queried the intention of the petitioner and said that it was more of a "private interest litigation". The court ruled:
The petitioner then approached the Election Commission of India seeking her disqualification. The Election Commission response was that:
Following this, the petitioner again approached the court, contending that the Election Commission had not applied its mind to the matter, and sought quashing of the commission's order.
In another case a Delhi-based NGO has also filed a petition before the Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court
The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.-History:...
alleging that Patil being Managing Trustee of Mumbai-based Shram Sadhana Bombay Trust, which is under the control of state government, was holding the office of profit
Office of profit
An office of profit is a term used in a number of national constitutions to refer to executive appointments. A number of countries forbid members of the legislature from accepting an office of profit under the executive as a means to secure the independence of the legislature and preserve the...
making her ineligible to contest the President's election. The High Court deferred the hearing until after election.
Refutation
The leaders of Indian National Congress and Indian left tried to repudiate these charges. They have also said that these issues have never been raised in the past while she was a deputy chairwoman of the Rajya Sabha, or during her tenure as a governor. They accused the BJP of launching a "malicious, unsubstantiated and deliberate" slanderous campaign just to damage her reputation. Prime Minister Manmohan SinghManmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
defended Pratibha Patil and dismissed the charges as "mud-slinging". On Monday 2 July 2007 breaking her silence Patil described the allegations leveled against her as "false, malicious and baseless".
Prominent and controversial allegations against her are:
Allegations of shielding her brother on a murder charge
On 22 June 2007, Rajni Patil, a professor at a Jalgaon college, claimed that Pratibha Patil's brother G.N.Patil was the person who had murdered her husband, Jalgaon congressman Vishram G Patil. She accused Pratibha Patil of shielding her brother. She further said that she had provided details of her allegations to Sonia Gandhi and President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. Copies of her letter to the President were distributed to the press by Sudheendra KulkarniSudheendra Kulkarni
Sudheendra Kulkarni is an Indian politician and columnist. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, earning a B. Tech in Civil Engineering in 1980. He began his political career as a full time activist for the Communist Party of India . He became a member of Bharatiya Janata...
, an aide of Leader of the Opposition L. K. Advani.
On 13 July 2007 Rajani Patil petitioned the Bombay High Court, demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
(CBI) investigate Pratibha Patil and her brother in connection with the allegations before the presidential election. The court directed the CBI accordingly in order to remove the possibility that presidential immunity might come into play if Prabitha Patil were elected.
The lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said that two CDs have surfaced which contain incriminating material against Patil's brother. The CDs contain footage of the elections for the district Congress presidentship in Jalgaon. Jethmalani offered to place both CDs on record, saying "These contain vital information showing the political link behind the murder."
Pratibha Women Cooperative Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank is a cooperative bank founded by Pratibha Patil, in 1973 in Jalgaon in Maharashtra with the objective of empowering women. Pratibha Patil is a senior leader of Indian National Congress and President of India...
was a cooperative bank set up by Patil in 1973 to empower women. The license for it to operate as a bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution of India and controls the monetary policy of the rupee as well as US$300.21 billion of currency reserves. The institution was established on 1 April 1935 during the British Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of...
for alleged financial irregularities. Among the irregularities listed were the loans policy of the bank and loan interest waivers given, among others, to Patil's relatives. Patil was one of the chairpersons of the bank and a number of her relatives were also directors.
She is currently one of 34 respondents in a legal case at the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
relating to allegations of mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its directors.
In her defence, her supporters point out that she was not the founding president of the bank, and that she held the job of the chairwoman for a little over a month. They also point out that the RBI has never mentioned Patil's name in the report, and the court has not charge-sheeted her. Communist leader A.B. Bardhan cast doubts on the credibility of the official employees' union of the bank, which has been highlighting the issue of mismanagement since 2002, drawing attention to the fact that it is associated with the BMS
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is the largest central trade union organization in India. It was founded by Dattopantji Thengdi on July 23, 1955, which also happens to the birthday of Bal Gangadhar Tilak....
union led by the BJP.
Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory
A cooperative sugar factory – Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana
Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana
Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana known as Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory is a cooperative factory founded by President of India Pratibha Patil the nominee of UPA and Indian left for 2007 election for President of India...
– of which Pratibha was a founder member, was declared a defaulter for failing to repay a Rs
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
17.5 crore (Rs 175 million) bank loan. Pratibha Patil had been its chairwoman and director until she became the Governor of Rajasthan. The loan was taken in 1994 when Pratibha was its chairwoman, but the factory has failed to repay the full amount. The bank sealed the factory on 23 January 2007 after issuing many reminders. This was the second occasion the mill had been sealed. Earlier, it was sealed in January 2006, but was reopened after the board of directors headed by G. N. Patil – younger brother of Pratibha Patil – requested for an opportunity to improve the performance of the mill.
In 2002 the chief commissioner of central excise and customs, Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, issued notice to the factory for evading excise duty resulting from diversion of export-oriented sugar by the factory into domestic market.
Dubbing as "malign campaign" the allegations, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, defended Pratibha and noted that there was never any enquiry under Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act against her. He also pointed out that as many as 74 mills were issued notices in December 2006, and it was "unfortunate that only one particular case has been brought up in the media". Pawar said most of the mills had failed to repay the loans because of persistent drought affecting sugarcane production, leading these mills to go sick.
Nevertheless in 2007, Manohar Lal Sharma, an independent advocate, filed a public interest litigation
Public interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Mrs Pratibha Patil was an undischarged insolvent relating to the Sant Muktabai Sugar Factory and hence disqualified to remain in the office of the presidency.
Party loyalty
In February 2011, RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
state minister Amin Khan
Amin Khan
Amin Khan was the Governor of Bengal in 1272.-History:In 1272 Amin Khan was appointed as the Governor of Bengal by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. Besides, Tughral Tughan Khan, a former Governor of Bengal, was appointed as the sub-governor of Bengal....
addressing a meeting of the district INC party was quoted by the local media as saying Pratibha Patil was rewarded with the presidency because "she used to make tea and cook food at Indira Gandhi's residence" without expecting anything in return. Khan later said that he was misquoted and did not mean any disrespect, and resigned from his post over the controversy.
MPLADS
It was alleged that as a Member of Parliament for Amravati between 1991 and 1996 Patil diverted Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million) from her MPLADS fund to a trust run by her husband Devisingh Shekhawat. This was in violation of Government rules which barred MPs from providing funds to organisation run by their relatives.Views on sterilisation
On 10 December 1975, when she was the Health Minister of Maharashtra, Patil advocated in Maharashtra Assembly that people with hereditary diseases should be compulsorily sterilised.Divine indication
Patil claims to have spoken to the spirit of the deceased leader Baba Lekhraj at their headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan."Dadiji ke shareer mein baba aye... Maine unse baat ki" (Baba entered Devi’s body and he communicated to me through her). Reporters began to report on the message she received of a "divine indication" of great responsibility coming her way.
Positions held
| Period | Position |
|---|---|
| 1967–72 | Deputy Minister, N.H.E.A., Scav, Public Health, Prohibition, Tourism, Housing & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
| 1972–74 | Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
| 1974–75 | Cabinet Minister, Public Health & Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
| 1975–76 | Cabinet Minister, Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
| 1977–78 | Cabinet Minister, Education, Government of Maharashtra |
| July 1979 to February 1980 | Leader of Opposition, CDP (I), Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| 1982–85 | Cabinet Minister, Urban Development and Housing, Government of Maharashtra |
| 1983–85 | Cabinet Minister, Civil Supplies and Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
| 18 November 1986 to 5 November 1988 | Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha |
| 1986–88 | Chairperson, Committee of Privileges, Rajya Sabha; Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha |
| 1991–96 | Chairperson, House Committee, Lok Sabha |
| 8 November 2004 – June 2007 | Governor of Rajasthan |
| 25 July 2007 to date | President of India |
See also
- Devisingh Ransingh ShekhawatDevisingh Ransingh ShekhawatDevisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat is the husband of Pratibha Patil, the current President of India, therefore the First Gentleman of India. He is a member of the political party Indian National Congress and a former mayor of Amravati. He was a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during 1985-1990...
- Indian presidential election, 2007Indian presidential election, 2007The Election Commission of India held indirect 13th presidential elections of India on 19 July 2007. Pratibha Patil with 638,116 votes won over her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who got 331,306 votes...
- Pratibha Mahila Sahakari BankPratibha Mahila Sahakari BankPratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank is a cooperative bank founded by Pratibha Patil, in 1973 in Jalgaon in Maharashtra with the objective of empowering women. Pratibha Patil is a senior leader of Indian National Congress and President of India...
- Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar KarkhanaSant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar KarkhanaSant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana known as Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory is a cooperative factory founded by President of India Pratibha Patil the nominee of UPA and Indian left for 2007 election for President of India...