A 58-year-old former Economic Times reporter and former ICICI bank spokesperson who has also worked as the PR head of several bigwig companies of India, committed suicide at his flat in Vasai area of Thane rural on Friday afternoon over an unknown reason.
According to the Vasai police, the deceased Charudatta Deshpande was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his ground floor flat in B wing of Pant Nagari building located in Vasai gaon in Vasai (west) at around 5 pm.
A police official said that Deshpande had lost his job two months ago and since then was under depression. However, refuting the claim a friend of Deshpande said, “I am sure money or job cannot be the reason as he used to earn over a crore per year in his last job.”
The police has not found a suicide note during the panchnama. Deshpande is survived by his wife and two grown up children.
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Court warns contempt action against PWD
Mumbai, June 28: Expressing displeasure over Maharashtra government’s failure to form a policy to monitor toll collection across the state despite an order four months ago, the Bombay high court on Friday warned contempt action against officials of the Public Works Department (PWD). The high court had on March 6 this year directed the government to formulate a policy to monitor toll collection, and to check if the project work has been completed before contractors start collecting toll from commuters.
The direction was passed in a public interest litigation challenging toll collection despite incomplete roads. A division bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and S.C. Gupte was on Friday informed that no step has been taken till date towards formulation of a policy. “It has been almost four months. This is a policy paralysed situation. Why is the state not taking any
decision and expecting the high court to look into it all the time? We are distressed with the casual manner in which the issue is being handled by the government,” Justice Chandrachud said.
The court said it was contemplating initiation of contempt action against the erring officials.
—PTI