ED registers money laundering case against Shankarsinh Vaghela, others

The ED has booked former Union Minister on charges of alleged money laundering in connection with sale of a prime NTC land

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has booked former Union Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and some others on charges of alleged money laundering in connection with sale of a prime National Textile Corporation (NTC) land in Mumbai which reportedly caused a loss of Rs 709 crore to the exchequer.

The CBI had filed a criminal case of corruption last year taking cognizance of which the Enforcement Directorate has now registered an offence under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Officials said the agency has worked on the case after gathering inputs from CBI and other agencies and also identified the "proceeds of crime" created by the accused.

They said Vaghela, a former Gujarat chief minister, and others named in the FIR will soon be summoned for questioning.

The case pertains to the sale of NTC land in upmarket Worli area of Mumbai to a private Kolkata-based firm for a meagre Rs 29.35 crore when Vaghela was Minister for Textiles.

CBI had alleged that the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy and transferred the land in a wrongful manner, for a total consideration of Rs 29.35 crore (approx), whereas its actual value was much higher, causing an alleged loss of Rs about 709.27 crore to the government exchequer.

It was alleged that during the UPA rule, Vaghela, who moved from BJP to Congress, had overruled recommendations of officials of his ministry suggesting that NTC must make a detailed evaluation of the land before the nod for transferring it to the private company was given.

CBI had registered its FIR under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act concerning criminal misconduct.

Besides Vaghela, currently the Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, those named in the CBI FIR included the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NTC K Ramachandran Pillai, its then Director (Technical) R K Sharma, Senior Manager (Legal) M K Khare and a Kolkata-based private firm and its Director.

The property in question is part of over 80,785 square metre land of "sick" Madhusudan Mills which was taken over by NTC under the Textile Undertakings (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1983 and the Textiles Undertakings (Nationalisation) Act, 1995.

It was alleged that in the process of settling of issues regarding taking over of assets and liabilities of the said firm, Vaghela overruled the opinion of senior officers of the Textiles Ministry seeking a comprehensive proposal from NTC, including the actual valuation of the land for settlement of the issues, the CBI FIR alleged.

Vaghela allegedly abused his official position to approve the sharing of the land in the ratio of 65:35 in favour of the Kolkata-based private company and its owner, it had claimed.

Accordingly, 35% of the land was transferred to the Kolkata-based company against a consideration of Rs 29.35 crore, which was lower than the actual cost of the land, causing a loss of Rs 709.27 crore to the exchequer.