The Mumbai Police has given clean chit to 70 politicians including top Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress and Shiv Sena leaders in connection with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam worth ₹25,000 crores.
The leaders accused in the case included Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September 2019 had filed a case of money laundering against Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar in connection with the MSCB scam.
The ED had registered a case under nine sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Earlier, the central agency had called Sharad Pawar to its office at Ballard Pier in Mumbai for an inquiry which led to a huge ruckus. Since then, the ED has not questioned any top leader in the case.
However, the ED has moved to a local court challenging the Mumbai Police’s decision to give clean chit to 70 politicians in the MSCB scam. The case will be heard on October 16.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Thursday submitted a closure report in the case to anti-corruption bureau (ACB) court. The special investigation team (SIT) formed by EOW found no criminal aspect to be probed in the case.
The leaders were accused of illegally allocating loans worth ₹25,000 crores to cooperative sugar factories despite the weak financial position of the MSCB bank. The ED attributed large scale irregularities in the allocation of loans.
The MSCB had allocated loans in a very arbitrary manner which led to a loss of ₹10,000 crores and an inquiry committee was also appointed in this regard. Apart from NCP leaders, Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul was also booked in the case.
The case was registered by ED earlier after RTI activist Surinder Arora filed a petition in the Bombay High Court.
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