Mumbai Police vs ED over closure of Maharashtra bank case
Mumbai Police vs ED over closure of Maharashtra bank case
The Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seem to be at odds regarding the closure of a case registered by the former concerning the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam. On Thursday, Mumbai Police questioned the ED's authority to intervene and make an application seeking permission to intervene in their case.
This issue pertains to a case in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was named as an accused in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore MSCB scam. The case was originally registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police. However, after investigation, the EOW claimed that the cooperative bank had not suffered any unfair losses due to the alleged fraud.
This is the second closure report filed in the case by the EOW. The second closure report is still under consideration by the special court, which has yet to decide.
The MSCB scam allegedly involves hefty loans taken from the bank by those running the sugar mills. Despite these substantial loans, the sugar mills reportedly did not operate and were subsequently shown as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) by the banks. The banks then allegedly auctioned the mills at throwaway prices to people associated with politicians.
However, a few years ago, the EOW stated that it had no evidence of the scam and sought its closure. At that time, many protest petitions against the closure were filed, and the ED also opposed the closure.
The ED claimed that the money taken as loans was diverted to various accounts and laundered instead of being used to run the sugar mills. The central agency said its case was based on the EOW's FIR, and it has filed a main prosecution complaint (charge sheet) and two supplementary charge sheets after investigation. The closure report would affect the prosecution complaints as well as the proceeds of crimes, the ED told the court.
With a change in government in the state, the EOW withdrew its closure report, stating that it wanted to investigate further.
However, after some years, when the government changed again, the EOW filed another closure report earlier this year. While the decision over the second closure report is pending, the ED moved an application seeking permission to oppose the closure.
Mumbai Police have stated that a similar intervention plea by the ED was previously rejected by the special court.
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