Bombay HC directs Mumbai Police to file FIR against Ajit Pawar and others accused in State Co-op Bank Scam

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police to file First Information Report (FIR) against former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other accused politicians in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Ltd (MSCB) scam case..A Division Bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and SK Shinde issued the direction on Thursday upon finding,.“In our view, the report of inquiries/inspection constitutes credible information which, prima-facie, discloses the commission of cognizable offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code and other penal laws.”.It, therefore, directed the EOW of the Mumbai Police to register the FIR within five days from the date of judgment..Earlier, in October, 2017, the High Court had put an interim stay on the inquiry against Ajit Pawar and others on a petition filed by one of the accused..The High Court passed Thursday’s order while pronouncing its judgment in a PIL filed by Surinder Mohan Arora. Arora claimed that various State Cooperative bank loans were distributed to sugar factories and textile mills of the accused directors and Chairmen, which were subsequently defaulted on..Among the accused are former state Finance Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, along with 75 others, including politicians of the Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and senior bank officials. They were accused of being complicit in causing the financial losses, running to of over Rs 1,000 crores to the MSCB between 2007 and 2011..The High Court pronounced its verdict after perusing a chargesheet filed by a quasi-judicial inquiry commission under Section 88 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies (MCS) Act and the Inspection Report of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)..On the basis of these reports, the Court found a prima facie breach of several banking laws and RBI guidelines by the accused bank officials including Ajit Pawar and others, who were then directors or chairmen of the state or district cooperative banks..The Court observed,.“Report of the NABARD indicates that these Directors were having complete knowledge regarding the transaction and in spite of that, either they sanctioned the loan to such units and/or sold out the properties of such Units at a throw away price which resulted into a substantial loss to the Bank.”.The court also noted that despite the chargesheet filed under MCS Act and inspection report by NABARD, no FIR had been registered by the Police for over a year, although the case involved cognizable offences..The Bench was also critical of the fact that though the charges in the case were framed in September 2015 there is nothing on record to indicate whether they were enquired into or not..Last month, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) told the Court that it has received communication from the State Department of Co-operation that nothing substantial has been found to frame charges against the accused..Appearing for EOW, Advocate Deepak Thakare told the Court that the probing agency is going to file a closure report under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). On instructions form he Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shrikant Paropkari, the Court was told that there was no material to suspect that a cognizable offence was committed..Voicing his disapproval over the approach adopted by the investigating agency, Justice SC Dharmadhikari had remarked,.“How can a closure report under Section 169 be filed without registering an FIR and conducting investigation? It is a purification drive?”.While directing that an FIR be registered in the matter within five days, the Court on Thursday also emphasised,.“Thereafter, all steps in accordance with law be taken uninfluenced by the oral assertions of Shri. Paropkari.”.In his petition, Arora alleged that the accused were complicit in the commission of offences punishable under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery on purpose of cheating) read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860..The Petitioner had approached the High Court, seeking the registration of an FIR against Pawar and others. The petitioner had further prayed for a High Court monitored probe into the case. He had also prayed that the investigation authorities be directed to submit periodical progress reports. This apart, the plea had also called for directing disciplinary actions against erring officers..In January 2018, the Court asked Arora to record his statement before the EOW. Last month, the Court summoned the Deputy Police Commissioner – an investigation officer of the EOW – to inform it of the steps taken after recording the petitioner’s statement last year..After hearing arguments, the Court had reserved judgment on July 31, this year. Advocate Satish Talekar represented the petitioner..Image taken from here..[Read the Judgment]