Lakhmi Gautam, the deputy commissioner of police (Special Branch) confirmed that there were 19 criminal cases against Bagwe, 15 of those were cognizable offenses and four were non-cognizable offenses. He said that Bagwe had applied in January for the renewal of his passport. During police verification, it was found that some cases were registered against the minister in some police stations in the city. Accordingly the police sent their report about the cases to the Passport Office in Pune in February, which rejected his application and refused him the passport.

Gautam, when asked about the nature of cases registered against Bagwe, refused to divulge any details stating that he would have to recall the details of the cases from the various police stations where the cases were registered. Gautam then said that in some cases Bagwe had been acquitted by the courts while some cases were still pending against him.

When Bagwe was contacted for his comments, he said, “Two years ago, I had deposited my passport with the police department for renewal. Since then, I had neither collected it nor demanded that I should get it. It’s correct that 19 minor cases were registered against me, out of which I had been acquitted in 16 cases.

In the remaining three cases, one each registered in Swargate police station and Yerawada police station in 2001 and one in Deccan Gymkhana police station were related to political agitation.”