Mumbai, March 16 Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant said on Monday that some staff members of the Vidhan Bhavan (Legislative Assembly) had prepared fake letterheads of his department, with the names and scanned signatures of officials, to obtain passes that were being sold for Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.
These officials were from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), the minister informed the legislative council.
"A dummy letterhead was prepared with the names and designations of 50 officials, along with their scanned signatures, to obtain passes from the Vidhan Bhavan office," Samant said, adding that a complaint was made to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), which asked the officials for an explanation.
"It was realized that personnel from the state legislature prepared dummy letterheads for many departments and they charge Rs 2,000-2,500 for preparing these passes. This is a serious issue," the minister said.
When officials of the state legislature questioned those involved in creating these dummy letterheads, these personnel claimed that this was their first and only mistake, said Samant, who also presented the letter to legislative council chairperson Ram Shinde.
"Strict action should be taken against such tendencies, and it is wrong for personnel from the state legislature to do this," Samant said.
"We also became aware of this, and we have initiated an investigation. Strict action will be taken against them," Shinde asserted.