Clean Chit to Sunetra Pawar in MSCB 'scam' Should Be Accepted by All: NCP

The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said on Wednesday that the closure report submitted by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam should be accepted by one and all.

Incidentally, the Mumbai Police gave a clean chit to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, who is the party’s nominee from the Baramati Lok Sabha case, in this case.

The timing is crucial, given that Sunetra Pawar in her maiden electoral battle is pitted against her sister-in-law and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Supriya Sule in a prestige fight.

State NCP spokesperson Anand Paranjape said Sunetra Pawar was not the lone director (of MSCB) as other directors from various political parties were also included in the closure report filed in January.

"The EOW of Mumbai Police has carried out a detailed investigation and presented its case in the court of law in its closure report. The directors of the bank were from different political parties. After a comprehensive police probe, the closure report should be accepted by one and all," he noted.

The EOW in its closure report said the MSCB did not suffer any losses in the process of sanctioning loans to the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill linked to Ajit Pawar or its sale.

The EOW also submitted that it did not find anything illegal in the various transactions of the bank.