Prove the scam to me: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar said that the Jarandeshwar sugar mill was auctioned as per the Bombay High Court’s order. Pic/Suresh Karkera

A day after the assets of a sugar mill linked to him were attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar wondered what the alleged scam was all about. "Prove it to me. Will you take action if I name the BJP leaders? What's the scam?" he asked, adding that everybody knew what kind of politics was being played across the country. Pawar did not deny his link with Jarandeshwar sugar mill in Satara district, but dismissed the charge of money laundering.

The documents pertaining to proving the clean source of finance were produced before the ED," he said, adding that he, as a director of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, had no role in the deal because the mill was auctioned as per the Bombay High Court's order.

"This sugar factory was among 14 mills that were sold after they failed to repay loans to Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. The Bombay High Court had asked the bank to give them one year and put them up for sale if they could not clear the outstanding amounts in that period," said Pawar.

Highest auction price

The Deputy CM said the auction price (Rs 65.75 crore) the mill in question got was the highest in the state. "I can prove with documents that a mill in Marathwada which had the same capacity as Jarandeshwar was purchased for only Rs 4 crore in the auction," he stated at a media conference in Pune. According to him, not just leaders from the NCP, but the counterparts from the Congress and BJP have bought the ‘bust' mills in the auction.

The assets are currently held in the name of Guru Commodity Services Pvt. Ltd. and leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd. Pawar said he or his family did not have any connection with the asset holding firm.

Pawar said he was not averse to any kind of probe because the state CID, ACB and EoW have found nothing in the allegations. "Probe me but maintain transparency; don't give the impression that the reason for probing me is something very different. People know what this jugglery is all about," he said, adding that he never brought politics while working as a public representative.

He said there had been efforts at defamation in the past because the NCP's young brigade had worked brilliantly. "In the 75 years of independent India, no political party has passed a resolution like the one BJP has passed for demanding a CBI enquiry against me. Can they have a look at the allegations the Shiv Sena's legislator from Kolhapur had made against the BJP leader who was a minister then?"

Rs 65.75crore
What Guru Commodity Services bid for mill during bank auction

Inputs from agencies