MUMBAI, Sept. 25 -- A special court on Thursday discharged Maharashtra food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal from a decade-old corruption case involving the development of a library at the University of Mumbai's Kalina campus, observing that the prosecution had failed to establish a criminal conspiracy or prove his "invisible support" for the firm which executed the project. "The prosecution has not been able to demonstrate the necessary nexus between the applicant's official acts and the alleged criminal object," the court said while discharging the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and minister. Alongside Bhujbal, special Judge Mahesh K Jadhav also discharged then public works department (PWD) divisional deputy engineer Gajanan Anant Sawant, then executive engineer Harish Shravan Patil and chartered accountant Ravindra Manohar Savant from the case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2015. The case had originally named seven accused. Among them, then PWD superintendent engineer Anilkumar Baliram Gaikwad and then undersecretary Sanjay Shriram Solanki were discharged in 2021, while proceedings against then PWD secretary (construction) Maniklal Hirachand Shah abated after his death. According to the ACB, Bhujbal, then PWD minister, colluded with departmental officials to manipulate the proposal-cum-feasibility report and tender process for the library, to favour India Bulls Real Estate Ltd, causing an alleged loss of around Rs.79 crore to the state. The chosen firm subsequently donated Rs.2.5 crore to the Chhagan Bhujbal Welfare Foundation, headed by Bhujbal, as a quid pro quo for the favour, the ACB claimed. But the court found that the prosecution had not shown a demand by Bhujbal, any communication linking the sponsorship to the library contract, or a statement from the alleged donor or developer acknowledging a quid pro quo. It also noted that officers of the firm had denied such a connection. The court rejected the prosecution's reliance on Bhujbal's alleged "modus operandi" and "invisible support", finding these to be inferences unsupported by independent material showing communication, direction or an understanding between him and accused PWD officials. It also noted that the BOT (build-operate-transfer) proposal for the library predated Bhujbal's alleged involvement, and the decision to proceed with the BOT model was taken in November 2007 at a meeting Bhujbal did not attend. The project subsequently passed through several departmental levels before an open tender was invited....