THE ACTIVIST, who lodged the complaint in the alleged MSCB (Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank) scam, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of the investigation from Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state police to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Surinder Mohan Arora, the petitioner, through advocate Satish Talekar has alleged that the closure report filed by EOW giving a clean chit to then finance minister Ajit Pawar and 75 other people including directors of district banks, was based on the statement of a managing director, Ajit Deshmukh, who was also named in the scam.
Deshmukh gave a statement that there was nothing amiss in the functioning of the banks and all revenue was accounted for, as a result of which the C-summary report (closure report) was filed by EOW last year, the plea stated.
The EOW, in its closure report filed before the sessions court in September, 2020 in the MSCB fraud case, said its probe did not reveal any irregularities in loan transactions.
“The EOW, in a most hurried manner, filed a closure report stating that losses caused to the bank were recovered and, therefore, the offences are of “civil nature” and sought issuance of “C” summary report. The entire report surrounds the statement of one Ajit Deshmukh, who appears to have held the brief of the accused and justified the actions of the directors. No attempt is made by the investigating officer to unearth the scam,” the plea stated.
The petitioners have filed a protest petition opposing the closure report filed by EOW. While the case could not be heard due to paucity of time on Friday, a division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale is likely to hear it on March 1.
