Not many media agencies (except IANS and a few others) mention name of Sharad Pawar- the man who ran cooperative show in the country for close to four decades. The Bombay High Court has ordered lodging of an FIR against him in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.
“The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered the police to lodge a FIR, within five days, against Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, ex-Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and at least 70 others in a Rs 1,000 crore scam in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank”, reports IANS.
“Naming of Sharad Pawar is no small thing and in fact it shows the determination of the Modi govt which is ready to take on the heavies of the land”, experts said pointing out Chidambaram in the CBI net currently as a proof.
Media circles had always been agog with the stories of corruption in the Pawar family but no one dared to point out fingers directly against them in the past. The Bombay High Court Thursday order and the BJP govt’s unusual eagerness to allow police to file an FIR are too fast-paced a development to be believed. The lense of probe is targeting the Czar!
Indian Cooperative earlier reported that Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said the state govt will allow Mumbai Police to file a case against NCP leader Ajit Pawar and 70 others in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam as directed by Bombay High Court. The court issued the order in response to a criminal public interest litigation filed by Surinder Arora from Bombay.
The scam spanned three fiscals including 2007-8, 2008-9 and 2009-10. Earlier, the inquiry conducted by additional cooperative registrar had not yielded any result. Later, a retired judge was asked to inquire but to no avail.
It deserves repetition that the board of directors, headed by NCP’s Manikrao Patil, was dissolved after the RBI rapped the bank over knuckles for high negative net worth in 2012.
A report by the State Cooperative Commissioner submitted to the government had alleged that the decisions of the MSCB’s erstwhile board of directors were responsible for the irregularities and financial losses suffered by the bank.
The board of directors is said to have set aside directives from NABARD in releasing loans to sugar mills and several other cooperatives.
Meanwhile, on Monday EoW filed an FIR but did not name anyone, media reports say. But it has led to widespread panic among the then Board of Directors of MSCB.