Four months after it attached land and property worth `50.20 crore belonging to a sugar factory linked to him, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary chargesheet against NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew and MLA Rohit Pawar and two others in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case.
The ED had on March 8 attached land and assets that comprised 161.30 acres of land, plant and machinery and building structures collectively worth `50.20 crore belonging to M/s Kannad Sahakari Shakar Karkhana (SSK) Ltd, a sugar unit owned by Baramati Agro Ltd., of which Rohit Pawar is the CEO. This had followed a 12-hour grilling that the ED officials had subjected Rohit 12 weeks earlier.
The attachment of land and assets belonging to Rohit Pawar-linked sugar unit located at Kannad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (known previously as Aurangabad) district had been under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case relating to the alleged illegal sale of sugar mills done by the MSCB)to M/s Baramati Agro Ltd.
It may be recalled that after the split that took place in June-July 2023, Rohit Pawar, who is an NCP MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar district, preferred side with Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule.
Reacting to his name figuring in the chargesheet of the MSCB scam case Rohit Pawar said: “It is well-known that ED took action against me because I didn’t listen to anyone or anything, so there’s no need to say more about it. The officers of ED, poor souls, are merely followers of orders; they only carried out the directives they received and have now also filed a charge-sheet.”
Rohit said that the ED chargesheet meant “the investigation is complete, and the ball of the decision we were waiting for is now in the court of the judiciary”.
“I have full faith in the process of justice. Truth will come out. No matter however much struggle is required from my side, I am prepared for the sake of my principles. Maharashtra has never given shelter to servility or betrayal and has always embraced struggle—this is history,” Rohit said.
According to the ED, the assets belonged to Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK), which Baramati Agro acquired through an allegedly rigged auction. The acquisition allegedly violated the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as the assets are deemed “proceeds of crime”.
The money laundering investigations by the ED stems from an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police in August 2019 under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR alleged that several cooperative sugar mills (SSKs) were sold fraudulently by MSCB officials and directors to their relatives and private entities at throwaway prices, bypassing standard procedures.
Specifically, the MSCB took possession of Kannad SSK’s assets in 2009 to recover an outstanding loan of Rs 80.56 crore. The bank conducted an auction based on a questionable valuation, setting a low reserve price.
The ED’s contention was that in order to recover the outstanding loan of Rs 80.56 crore from M/s Kannad SSK Limited, the MSCB had taken possession of all the assets of the sugar mill by fixing a low reserve price based on a questionnaire valuation report, Apart from M/s Baramati Agro Ltd, two other parties entered into the bidding process. The bidder with the highest bid was technically disqualified on flimsy grounds, whereas other bidders were already business associates of Ms Baramati Agro Ltd with no financial capacity in running a sugar unit”.
The ED had earlier said that the acquisition of the Kannad SSK was “illegal” and assets so acquired were proceeds of crime under the PMLA. 2002. Accordingly provisional attachment order was issued facilitating the attachment of all assets of Kannad SSK.
