Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Thursday opposed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking to intervene over the police closure report in the alleged Rs 25,000-crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was named as an accused in the original case registered by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the city police, but the EOW later said that the apex cooperative bank had not suffered unfair losses due to the alleged fraud.
In its written reply on Thursday, the EOW said a similar intervention plea by the ED had earlier been rejected by the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs.
The central agency has submitted a new application repeating the same points, he said.
The EOW, which investigated the alleged scam, submitted its first closure report in September 2020 and the court accepted it.
But in October 2022, the investigation agency informed the court that it was carrying out further investigation based on the points raised in the protest petitions filed by the complainants and the Department of Education.
In March this year, the EOW again attempted to close the case, stating that "there was no unfair loss to the bank due to the alleged fraud."
A former judge, appointed authorized officer by the commissioner of cooperatives, concluded that "there was no unfair loss to the bank due to the loans given to the factories (mills)" and "the bank was recovering the amount from the factories by legal means" , says the closing report.
The ED, which is investigating a money laundering case related to the scam, recently asked the court to intervene in the hearing on the closure report.
The central agency said its case was based on the EOW FIR and filed a primary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) and two supplementary chargesheets after investigation.
The closure report would affect the prosecution's complaints as well as the proceeds of crimes, the ED told the court.
The EOW had earlier registered a first information report (FIR) in the case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code as well as relevant sections of the Prevention of Crime Act. Corruption and Securitization and Reconstruction of the Law on Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests.
The FIR, which followed a high court order in August 2019, alleged that loans worth billions of rupees obtained by sugar cooperatives, spinning mills and other entities from district and cooperative banks were siphoned off and not repaid.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and more than 70 others who were directors of MSC Bank during the period in question were named as accused.
The Maharashtra government suffered a loss of Rs 25,000 crore between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2017 due to the alleged irregularities, the FIR said.
Banking and RBI regulations were violated by disbursing loans to sugar mills at very low rates and selling assets of defaulting companies at throwaway prices, the FIR alleged.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was named as an accused in the original case registered by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the city police, but the EOW later said that the apex cooperative bank had not suffered unfair losses due to the alleged fraud.
In its written reply on Thursday, the EOW said a similar intervention plea by the ED had earlier been rejected by the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs.
The central agency has submitted a new application repeating the same points, he said.
The EOW, which investigated the alleged scam, submitted its first closure report in September 2020 and the court accepted it.
But in October 2022, the investigation agency informed the court that it was carrying out further investigation based on the points raised in the protest petitions filed by the complainants and the Department of Education.
In March this year, the EOW again attempted to close the case, stating that "there was no unfair loss to the bank due to the alleged fraud."
A former judge, appointed authorized officer by the commissioner of cooperatives, concluded that "there was no unfair loss to the bank due to the loans given to the factories (mills)" and "the bank was recovering the amount from the factories by legal means" , says the closing report.
The ED, which is investigating a money laundering case related to the scam, recently asked the court to intervene in the hearing on the closure report.
The central agency said its case was based on the EOW FIR and filed a primary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) and two supplementary chargesheets after investigation.
The closure report would affect the prosecution's complaints as well as the proceeds of crimes, the ED told the court.
The EOW had earlier registered a first information report (FIR) in the case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code as well as relevant sections of the Prevention of Crime Act. Corruption and Securitization and Reconstruction of the Law on Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests.
The FIR, which followed a high court order in August 2019, alleged that loans worth billions of rupees obtained by sugar cooperatives, spinning mills and other entities from district and cooperative banks were siphoned off and not repaid.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and more than 70 others who were directors of MSC Bank during the period in question were named as accused.
The Maharashtra government suffered a loss of Rs 25,000 crore between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2017 due to the alleged irregularities, the FIR said.
Banking and RBI regulations were violated by disbursing loans to sugar mills at very low rates and selling assets of defaulting companies at throwaway prices, the FIR alleged.
