Three NCP leaders, who switched sides, facing ED cases

Mumbai: Of the nine NCP leaders, who joined the Eknath Shinde–Devendra Fadnavis government on Sunday, at least three are under investigation in cases linked to money laundering.

MLAs with Ajit Pawar are Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.

Among these, Pawar, Bhujbal, and Mushrif have pending Enforcement Directorate cases against them.

Following are the details of cases faced by these leaders:

Ajit Pawar: Ajit Pawar was facing charges related to the Co-operative Bank scam and the Irrigation scam.

In Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank scam, the Economic Offences Wing initiated a probe over allegations of irregularities in loans given by the bank implicating a company associated with Pawar and his wife Sunetra. Based on this, the ED too filed a case to probe money laundering in this connection. However, ED refrained from explicitly naming the couple as accused in the chargesheet.

Within a year, in September 2020, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) stated that it found no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing and submitted a closure report to the special court. According to a Supreme Court judgment, if the EOW case is closed, the ED cannot continue its investigation. However, with the change in the state government last June, the EOW altered its stance in October 2022 and expressed a desire to pursue the probe, disregarding its own closure report. Currently, the EOW investigation is ongoing, and the agency is yet to file a chargesheet.

When Ajit Pawar was the Water Resources Minister in the Congress-NCP government and chairman of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Scam, there were allegations of irregularities in the irrigation projects. Based on PILs, the Maharashtra ACB began a court-monitored investigation in this regard.

Hasan Mushrif

The ED is currently investigating a money laundering case involving individuals and entities connected to former Minister and NCP leader Hasan Mushrif.

The ED is investigating the suspected diversion of Rs 40 crores in the Sar Senapati Santaji Ghorpade Sugar factory located in Kolhapur. The factory is operated and controlled by family members and relatives of Hasan Mushrif. The investigation has revealed the existence of multiple dubious bank accounts that were allegedly used for the diversion of funds, including transfers to entities that hold shares in the aforementioned sugar factory.

Chhagan Bhujbal

In 2015, a case was filed against Bhujbal and 16 others by the Anti-Corruption Bureau following a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, which sought an inquiry into alleged irregularities in awarding contracts worth over Rs 100 crore for three projects in 2006 when Bhujbal was the state PWD minister.

Furthermore, the ED has filed a separate case accusing Bhujbal of money laundering. Bhujbal was arrested in connection with the case and spent two years in jail before being granted bail. In September 2021, while the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) alliance was in power, a special court discharged Bhujbal and the others. However, in January of this year, an activist filed an appeal against the court’s order with the Bombay High Court, which is still pending.