Former Maharashtra energy minister Nitin Raut on Monday told the Bombay High Court he had used chartered flights to travel to Nagpur during the COVID-19 pandemic for attending official assignments and not for any personal work.
Raut, a Congress leader from Nagpur, made the submission in an affidavit filed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) submitted by state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media cell chief Vishwas Pathak alleging misuse of official power by the former minister and use of chartered flights during the pandemic for personal works.
Pathak, in the petition, claimed Raut had pressurized the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and three other state units, where were then under his administrative control, to bear the expenditure of the chartered flights.