ED issues summons to NCP leader Rohit Pawar in MSC Bank scam case

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of party supremo Sharad Pawar, has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), for questioning on Thursday as part of an alleged money laundering probe.

The probe is in connection to the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank scam case that relates to the alleged fraudulent disbursal of loans amounting to 25,000 crores.

Meanwhile, the NCP workers staged a hunger strike protest outside the NCP office in Mumbai against the probes by the central agency.

Earlier on January 24, ED had interrogated Rohit Pawar for about 10 hours in the money laundering case and had called him for interrogation again on February 1.

After the day-long questioning by the Enforcement Directorate on January 24, NCP leader Rohit Pawar attacked the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that the NCP will always fight against the government.

"We always fight against this government and agencies. I have submitted all necessary documents to ED and I have been summoned on February 1 by them. I will go again," said Pawar while speaking to the reporters.

MSC Bank scam amounting to 25,000 crores triggered the filing of a PIL Petition in the Bombay High Court by four persons.

The PIL shed light on the alleged modus operandi of the fraud. In the petition, it was alleged that some sugar mills defaulted on the loans, which were given without due diligence. Those sugar mills were attached by the MSC banks and auctioned to various office bearers of the bank and politicians.

Acting on the PIL the Bombay High Court ordered the registration of a case. The Economic Offences Wing(EOW), which is under the Maharashtra government, investigated the case. When EOW filed a closure report in 2020 in the Bombay Session Court, ED filed an intervention petition against the closure report and started an investigation.