Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, and his nephew Rohit were cleared in the MSC Bank fraud case

There was no unjust loss to the bank as a result of the loan issued to sugar mills and other companies, according to the closure report submitted by the Mumbai police in the alleged Rs 25,000-crore fraud at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) involving Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and others.

According to the police, who cited an investigation report, the MSCB has likewise not done anything improper. The lawsuit concerns loans from district and cooperative banks totaling hundreds of crores of rupees that sugar cooperatives, spinning mills, and other organizations received.

In March, the Mumbai police’s Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) presented the closure report to R. N Rokade, the special judge overseeing the cases involving MPs and MLAs. Additionally, nothing incriminating has been discovered by the EOW in the documents provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the acquisition of a cooperative sugar mill by Baramati Agro, the company owned by Rohit Pawar.

According to information released on Tuesday in the wake of the MSCB’s 2007–2011 NABARD inspection and the bank’s settlement report on the inspection, an investigation was started in January 2013 in accordance with the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act.

The goal was to get a definitive decision on the bank’s operations, financial standing, and any losses or damages sustained during this time. However, the closure report said that the investigation report that was sent to the cooperative commissioner in January 2014 “did not say that the bank suffered losses.” However, a retired chief district judge carried out an additional investigation in February 2020 in response to an objection voiced by the case’s complainant.

According to the closure report, the former judge came to the conclusion that “the bank was recovering the amount owed to the bank from the factories by legal means” and that there was “no unfair loss to the bank due to the loan given to the factories.” The former judge had been appointed as an authorised officer by the cooperative commissioner.According to the police investigation, the officer also said in his inquiry report that the bank had done nothing illegal.

The police investigation also relied on witness statements, including those from bank executives, and a review of relevant documents in addition to the inquiry reports.The police added that after re-investigating the case, nothing incriminating was discovered, at which point the closure report was submitted.

In the meanwhile, Surinder Arora, the first complainant in the case, has filed a protest appeal challenging the closure report. In an attempt to become involved, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has looked into a connected case.

In September 2020, the EOW submitted its first closure report, which was approved by the court.On the other hand, the probe agency notified the special court in October 2022 that it was looking into the case further in light of the concerns expressed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and protest petitions.

Under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, the EOW had filed a first information report (FIR) in the matter.Ajit Pawar and over seventy other directors of the MSC Bank throughout the relevant time were identified as defendants in the FIR. In August 2019, a high court ruling had caused it to be registered.

According to the FIR, anomalies at the bank caused losses of Rs 25,000 crore for the state exchequer between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2017.The FIR said that while loans were given to sugar mills at very cheap interest rates and the assets of defaulting enterprises were sold at throwaway prices, banking and RBI norms were broken.