NCP leader Jayant Patil does not appear before ED, cites family engagements

NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil on Friday did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for recording statement in the the alleged IL&FS money laundering case.

The ED had summoned him on Friday. Patil, who heads the Maharashtra unit of the Nationalist Congress Party, had on Thursday said he had written to the central agency seeking time as he had to attend some marriages in the family. The former state finance minister had also told reporters that he never had any association or financial dealings with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS). Patil, who has held home and finance portfolios in the Maharashtra government in the past, has sought ten days for appearing before the agency, sources said. The ED on Wednesday carried out searches against two former auditor firms of IL&FS -- BSR and Associates and Deloitte Haskins and Sells -- in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged financial irregularities at the company.