Pawar family, possibly the most corrupt political family in the country might be next big fish after former finance minister Chidambaram. The Bombay High Court has asked Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing to register FIR against Ajit Pawar and 70 other in Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam. The bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and S K Shinde told EOW to register the FIR within five days.
The case includes NCP leader Jayant Patil and senior cooperative bank officials from 34 districts in the state who were directly or indirectly related to NCP. These people caused loss worth 1,000 crore rupees to MSCB from 2007 to 2011.
The Pawars are among the most tainted politicians of the country. They have been accused of having links with criminals, illegal use of state power, and corruption. “During their tenure as Ministers in the centre and state, the Pawars only looted thousands of crores of rupees through irrigation projects, infrastructure, realty sectors. They were now worried about all these scams,” said PM Modi during 2019 general election campaign. He also termed NCP as “Naturally Corrupt Party”.
Sharad Pawar built the political and business empire by influencing the agriculture and related industries through policy manipulation. The credit cooperative societies, sugar mills, agriculture market produce committee (APMC) were the instruments for Sharad Pawar to build the power base the politics of the state.
Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar who has been Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2012 to 2014 has been named in links with criminals and scams. Sharad Pawar has close association with underworld don and 1990 Bombay bombings conspirator Dawood Ibrahim. He enjoys close relationship with real estate billionaire and 2G spectrum suspect Shahid Balwa. Nira Radia, the political lobbyist accused in 2G spectrum scam said that Balwa is just face of DB Realty, the company is actually controlled by Pawar family.
The daughter of Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule and his son in law were accused to held 21.97 percent stake in Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL) from 2002 to 2004. “All the necessary permission from the government for Lavasa was received in this period. After that, both of them quietly sold off their stakes,” said Ms. Suniti of the National Alliance of People’s Movement.
A former IPS officer and practicing lawyer Yogesh Pratap Singh alleged that “the former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, who was then Irrigation Minister, and Chairman of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation, had misused his official powers, awarding 348 acres (141 hectares) of land at throwaway prices to the Lake City Corporation which was renamed Lavasa Corporation, The land was awarded at a paltry monthly rent of Rs. 23,000, of which share of 20.81 per cent was held by Mr. Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, and her husband Sadanand Sule.”
In 2010, IPL matches were tax exempted due to Pawar’s close association with BCCI. He had a long stint at BCCI, Mumbai Cricket Association and controlled the richest sports body in the country for decades.
As the anti-corruption drive is in full swing, it is very likely that the members of the most corrupt political family in the country will be behind the bars very soon.