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MSC Bank scam: Got clean chit despite probe by multiple agencies, says Ajit Pawar
He also pointed out MSC Bank is currently running profits worth over ₹300 crore and said he has never allowed any loss to any institution he has been associated with in the past
Two days after getting a clean chit in the alleged ₹25,000 crore Maharashtra State Co-operative (MSC) Bank scam along with 75 others, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said he has been getting clean chits in allegations of corruption in the case despite being probed in the by multiple agencies in the past few years.
He also pointed out MSC Bank is currently running profits worth over ₹300 crore and said he has never allowed any loss to any institution he has been associated with in the past. Work should be done in such a way that people should not lose their trust in you, said Pawar, while addressing an event at Baramati in Pune on Saturday.
“First a probe by CID (criminal investigation department) was conducted when BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) was in power and we got a clean chit. ACB (anti-corruption bureau) also gave its clean chit after a probe. Meanwhile, the state cooperatives’ department had appointed a single-member committee to probe into the allegations but it found nothing. It was again alleged that we are the main conspirators and the department then appointed a retired judge for probe and by now you all would have known about its findings,” Pawar said in his address.
On Thursday, retired principal district judge Panditrao Jadhav in his report submitted to the state cooperatives department found no evidence against Pawar and the other 75 accused. “The proceedings initiated under section 88 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, hereby fail and hence terminated. All delinquent deserves to be exonerated, and hence exonerated,” stated the report. The report will now be submitted to the state for further action.
The bank board was dissolved by the then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in 2011, following the directive of the Reserve Bank of India. The action was taken based on an inquiry report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development which pointed to gross financial indiscipline while handing out loans, that left the bank with a negative net worth of ₹144 crore. The board of directors were replaced by two state-appointed administrators.
Pawar said he could not visit MSC Bank despite becoming the deputy CM as a probe was initiated against him for being a trustee. “I have never allowed damage to any institutions I am associated with. I always work with an approach for their survival and have invested my own salary at times for the same. I believe people shouldn’t feel betrayed when they trust you,” he said.
MSC Bank is the apex co-operative bank in the state that controls credit in the entire co-operative sector, and forms the backbone of the rural economy.
