New Delhi:
Four of the nine Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs who switched sides to join the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra and were sworn in as cabinet ministers are under the scanner of the Central Investigation Agency Enforcement Directorate or the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). ) in several cases.
Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif are under investigation for money laundering related cases.
Sharad Pawar’s nephew, Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra for the third time since 2019 on Sunday. He again sided with the BJP, weeks after his cousin Supriya Sule was announced as acting president of the Sharad. Pawar led NCP. Ajit Pawar is accused of an alleged cooperative banking scam and an irrigation scam.
The Economic Crimes Department is investigating allegations of irregularities in loans made by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. The ED has also filed a case to investigate money laundering based on the allegations. The EOW had filed a closing report claiming that it found no evidence of wrongdoing in the case within a year after the Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power in Maharashtra with Mr. Pawar as deputy chief minister.
The ED had opposed the EOW’s position in 2020, but its intervention was rejected by a special court. With the BJP back in power in 2022, the EOW changed its stance and decided to continue with the investigation.
In addition to the co-operative banking case, the Maharashtra ACB also began a court-controlled investigation into allegations of
irregularities in irrigation projects while Ajit Pawar was the Minister of Water Resources in the Congress and NCP government. However, the ACB gave him a clean sheet a day after he rushed into being sworn in alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. The court has not yet accepted the report and BJP leaders demanded a new investigation when the MVA came to power.
Sunil Tatkare, whose daughter Aditi Tatkare was sworn in, is also under the scanner of the ACB in the irrigation scam case. While not an accused, his name appears in the 2017 chragesheet filed by the ACB. A separate charge with his name was expected and the ED also launched a preliminary investigation against Mr. Tatkare in 2012 in connection with the same case.
Chhagan Bhujbal, another NCP heavyweight who was sworn in yesterday, is accused of irregularities in awarding contracts over Rs 100 crore for three projects in 2006 when he was the PWD minister of the state. A separate money laundering case was also filed by the ED. Mr. Bhujbal, who started his political career in the Shiv Sena, defected to the Congress and eventually joined the NCP, spent two years in jail following his arrest in the case. Like Ajit Pawar, he too was given a clean slate after MVA came to power.
Mr Bhujbal is also accused in a University of Mumbai corruption case.
Another NCP defector who took oath of office yesterday, Hasan Mushrif, has been charged with searches by the ED in Mumbai over alleged irregularities in the functioning of Sar Senapati Santaji Ghorpade Sugar Factory Limited and companies associated with his family. Mr Mushri called the case “a motivated conspiracy” and a “deliberate attempt” to implicate him in ED matters. He previously echoed allegations from several opposition leaders that the ED is being used for political vendetta.
Mr Mushrif’s plea for provisional bail was rejected by a special court in April. The Bombay High Court later granted interim relief to him. His three sons’ early bail applications, also under investigation by the ED, are pending in the special court.
NCP working president Praful Patel, who also joined the government but was not sworn in because he is not an MLA, also faces an ED investigation in a case that also involved feared mobster Dawood Ibrahim’s assistant Iqbal Memon aka Mirchi is called. However, Mr Patel had denied any connection to Mirchi. He is also not named as a defendant or mentioned in the indictment filed by the ED.
The ED had included property belonging to former minister Praful Patel in the case last year. The annexed property comprises four floors in the premier Ceejay House property in Worli belonging to Mr. Patel and his family.
Sharad Pawar lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, thanking him for “clearing up” the alleged corruption cases against some of the defectors.
“Two days ago the Prime Minister had spoken about NCP… He had said two things in his statement — that NCP is a discontinued party. He mentioned complaints about irrigation and allegations of corruption. I am glad that some of my colleagues took the oath This clearly shows that all charges have been acquitted. I am grateful to him,” said Mr. Pawar.