Clear target: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar | Amey Mansabdar
On June 24, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP passed a resolution at its executive meeting, seeking a probe by Central agencies against Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Transport Minister Anil Parab in connection with corruption and extortion charges levelled against them by dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze. A week later, the Enforcement Directorate attached the properties of Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK), a cooperative sugar factory in Satara district, now run by a company said to be related to Pawar and his wife, Sunetra.
Although the ED’s action against Pawar came in a different case, its timing took everyone—even some BJP leaders—by surprise. But no one missed the political significance of the action. The properties of Jarandeshwar SSK, including its land, building, plant and machinery worth 065.75 crore was attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering act. The assets are currently owned by a company called Guru Commodity Services Private Limited, which has leased them to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Private Limited. According to the ED, Sparkling Soil Private Limited, a company related to Pawar and his wife, is the majority shareholder of Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Private Limited.
Jarandeshwar SSK was auctioned off by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) in 2010, allegedly at an undervalued price and without following due process. At that time, the Congress-NCP coalition was in power and Pawar was deputy chief minister. He was also on the board of the MSCB. Guru Commodities bought Jarandeshwar SSK at the auction for 065.75 crore and leased it immediately to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Private Limited. The ED thinks Guru Commodity Services is a dummy company set up to acquire Jarandeshwar SSK. The erstwhile cooperative was then used as a vehicle to obtain loans worth Rs700 crore from the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank.
Pawar denied having any links with Guru Commodity Services and said he had no idea why the company was being investigated. “This sugar factory was among the 14 mills which were sold after they failed to repay loans to the MSCB. The Bombay High Court had asked the bank to give them one year and put them up for sale if they could not clear the outstanding amounts in that period,” Pawar said at a news conference.
He said the MSCB floated a tender to which 15 companies responded and as Guru Commodity Services’ bid of 065.75 crore was the highest one, the bank sold the mill to the company. After taking over the mill, Guru Commodity Services leased it to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill Private Limited, owned by the BVG group’s Hanmant Gaikwad and one of his directors, clarified Pawar. He said the new owners gave up after suffering losses in the first year of operations itself. “One of my relatives, Rajendra Ghadge, then took the company on lease and started running it, but he also suffered losses for some years,” said Pawar.
The new management decided to expand the business to avoid further losses and approached banks for loans of 0300 to 400 crore, said Pawar. “Obtaining all necessary permissions and following all procedures, the management expanded the business by obtaining a loan and started a distillery of one lakh litre capacity, increased the per day capacity of sugar production to 10,000 metric tonnes and this is why the mill is currently in good condition,” he said. “I have not got into the details of why Guru Commodities is being probed by the ED because I do not have any relation with (the company).”
Ajit is not the only Pawar who is under a cloud. Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has asked the ED to probe the acquisition of Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Aurangabad district by Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar’s Baramati Agro for 050 crore. Rohit is the grandnephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Somaiya said the MSCB manipulated the auction to help Rohit.
Yet another NCP leader who is facing the heat from Central agencies is former home minister Anil Deshmukh. He resigned in April after the CBI opened an inquiry into the allegations levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh that he had asked Vaze to collect 0100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. The ED has already arrested Deshmukh’s key aides, Kundan Shinde and Sanjay Palande. A Mumbai court on July 6 extended their ED custody till July 20. Deshmukh himself has been summoned thrice by the agency, but he is yet to appear before it. He has moved Supreme Court appealing for protection from coercive action by the ED.
Crucial fight: (left) Former home minister Anil Deshmukh; Transport Minister Anil Parab | Amey Mansabdar
The ED investigations have revealed the existence of several companies linked to Deshmukh—some of them operated directly by his family and some run by close associates. In its remand application for Shinde and Palande, the ED said it identified a trail of money from companies owned by Deshmukh’s close associates to companies directly controlled by the family. A reverse flow was also observed. Vikram Raj Sharma—a close associate of the family, who owns four such companies—told the ED that Deshmukh’s son, Hrishikesh, funded and controlled one of his companies, Qubix Hospitality. He said he signed cheques and other documents as per Hrishikesh’s instructions.
Sagar Bhatewara, another person investigated by the ED in the Deshmukh probe, told the agency about the purchase of four passenger vehicles, although his company, Sublime Warehousing, was engaged in transport business. One such vehicle was a Mercedes Benz GLE with the registration number MH 49 AS 1000, which is used by Hrishikesh.
The ED has also recorded statements of bar owners and managers from Mumbai. They told sleuths that Vaze had summoned them for a meeting at his office when he was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit. After the meeting, two representatives of the bar owners, Jaya Poojary and Mahesh Shetty, paid Vaze 040 lakh in December 2020. Further payments of 01.64 crore and 02.66 crore were made in the following months. Vaze had informed the bar owners that the money would go to “number one”, allegedly referring to Deshmukh, and the crime branch and the social service branch of the Mumbai Police. Vaze handed over the money to Shinde in two instalments under instructions from Deshmukh, said ED officials. Police officers questioned by the ED told the investigators that Palande had called them and inquired about the details of bars in their jurisdiction.
In trouble: Nitin Raut, minister for energy | Amey Mansabdar
The ED is also looking at Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha, a charitable trust managed by the Deshmukh family. The trust runs several engineering and polytechnic colleges in Nagpur. The bank statement of the trust showed cheque entries amounting to Rs4.18 crore received from Delhi-based companies Reliable Finance, VA Realcon, Utsav Securities and Sital Leasing and Finance. The companies, which are owned by brothers Surendra and Virendra Jain, exist only on paper. The Jain brothers told the ED that a person from Nagpur contacted them and asked for transfer/adjustment entries as donations to Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha. Accordingly, they received Rs4 crore by hawala route and it was channelled back to the trust as donations. The ED believes Hrishikesh oversaw the entire operation.
Senior Congress leader Nitin Raut, who handles the energy portfolio, is also in the ED’s crosshairs. Tarun Parmar, a Nagpur-based lawyer, recently filed a complaint against him. “Nitin Raut, Deshmukh and senior IAS and IPS officers posted in Nagpur and their staff have been involved in corruption and money laundering,”said Parmar. “I went to the ED office in Mumbai on June 28, gave my statement and submitted all the facts and proof. This corruption and money laundering have been happening in various sectors, from cricket betting to illegal sand-mining. Even the Covid-19-related funds were misappropriated.”He said that Nagpur was the hub of nationwide illegal betting while the Indian Premier League games were in progress. The ED is likely to summon the minister for interrogation.
Parab, who is a close associate of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, is in the dock for alleged illegal construction of a resort at Murud, a pristine village on the Konkan coast in Ratnagiri district. The resort was built on agricultural land during the Covid lockdown, allegedly violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. Somaiya said he had written to the ED, the National Green Tribunal, the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to probe the construction. “It is not known where the money came from. Parab sold [a portion of the plot] to his friend Sadanand Kadam for Rs1.1 crore. He held the property from May 2, 2017 to February 21, 2021. The property developed remained with him as a benami property and this also amounts to money laundering,”said Somaiya.
The subplot behind all these developments is, however, political. And there are several intriguing layers to it. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government formed by the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress has managed to complete 20 months in office without any major hiccups and the BJP seems frustrated that it has failed to topple the fragile coalition.
Another interesting element was Uddhav’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June amidst speculation that the BJP and the Shiv Sena are exploring the possibility of a patch up. Sharad Pawar, too, got into the act by hosting opposition leaders at his residence under the banner of the Rashtra Manch, possibly evaluating the chances of a united front against the BJP in 2024.
Senior political analyst Abhay Deshpande said the ED investigations against MVA leaders were nothing but pressure tactics. “The focus of the BJP now is on the NCP and not on the Shiv Sena so much. It wants to wash away the stain of the 80-hour government that Devendra Fadnavis formed with Pawar. That is why Fadnavis recently said it was a mistake and that his image suffered a severe blow. Then, a few days ago, the BJP state executive passed a resolution asking Central agencies to probe Pawar. And, the ED acted within days,”said Deshpande.
A senior BJP leader said Pawar was at the receiving end because of two reasons: He did not stick with the BJP and failed to deliver on his promise that the entire NCP legislative party was with him. Second, it is a message to the Shiv Sena that its ministers could also be similarly targeted.
The Maharashtra BJP, meanwhile, is going ahead with its offensive. The party’s state president, Chandrakant Patil, thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the ED action against the Jarandeshwar sugar factory. He also furnished a list of 30 other cooperative sugar factories which were purchased at auctions by relatives and associates of MVA politicians. “The state government was trying to protect the ministers who were on the board of the MSC bank when the said sugar cooperatives were auctioned,”said Patil in a letter to Shah.
Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who is the editor of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana, told THE WEEK that the BJP and the Modi government were trying to defame the MVA government. “Had the Shiv Sena continued its alliance with the BJP, we would not have been targeted. Similarly, had Ajit Pawar managed to run the government with the BJP, it would have treated him like a saint,”said Raut. “BJP leaders like Somaiya are making wild allegations against our minister Anil Parab. What is more shocking is that they seem to know what action the Central agencies are going to take. Are the agencies being run by leaders like Somaiya? This is a clear-cut agenda to defame and destabilise our government by hook or by crook.”
With Nachiket Kelkar