MUMBAI: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, in its reply to the court, objected to Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s claim that Maharashtra State Co-Operative Bank (MSCB) office bearers, including NCP leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, had committed cheating while auctioning the sick sugar mills at throwaway prices to their kin.
Submitting that ED had no right to file an intervention plea despite an earlier one being rejected by the court, EOW filed its reply against the application which opposed the closure report by EOW in the Rs 25,000-crore MSCB scam. EOW said even after further investigations were conducted, it was found that no cognizable offence had been committed. Hence, the closure report was submitted.
The development comes days after an article in the RSS organ ‘Organiser’ attributed BJP’s poor performance in LS polls in state to its alliance with Ajit Pawar, and amid reports of state BJP and Shiv Sena functionaries urging their netas to ‘remove NCP from the Mahayuti’.
The Rs 25,000 crore MSCB scam case highlights the alleged irregularities in auctioning of sick sugar mills by MSCB, which was reportedly controlled by senior politicians who allegedly benefited from auctioning of these mills to their kin. ED had alleged cheating, misconduct, and money laundering in the auctioning of the four sick mills and linked the suspicious transactions with Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Arjun Khotkar, and companies of NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Prajakt Tanpure.
ED informed the court that it had shared its findings with EOW and stated that it is an affected party as their money laundering case is based on EOW’s FIR in the scam that was registered on Bombay HC’s directions. In response, EOW submitted its reply in the court recently stating that the court had earlier rejected the ED’s similar intervention application.
Submitting that ED had no right to file an intervention plea despite an earlier one being rejected by the court, EOW filed its reply against the application which opposed the closure report by EOW in the Rs 25,000-crore MSCB scam. EOW said even after further investigations were conducted, it was found that no cognizable offence had been committed. Hence, the closure report was submitted.
The development comes days after an article in the RSS organ ‘Organiser’ attributed BJP’s poor performance in LS polls in state to its alliance with Ajit Pawar, and amid reports of state BJP and Shiv Sena functionaries urging their netas to ‘remove NCP from the Mahayuti’.
The Rs 25,000 crore MSCB scam case highlights the alleged irregularities in auctioning of sick sugar mills by MSCB, which was reportedly controlled by senior politicians who allegedly benefited from auctioning of these mills to their kin. ED had alleged cheating, misconduct, and money laundering in the auctioning of the four sick mills and linked the suspicious transactions with Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Arjun Khotkar, and companies of NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Prajakt Tanpure.
ED informed the court that it had shared its findings with EOW and stated that it is an affected party as their money laundering case is based on EOW’s FIR in the scam that was registered on Bombay HC’s directions. In response, EOW submitted its reply in the court recently stating that the court had earlier rejected the ED’s similar intervention application.
