Pune: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who split from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to join the BJP-Sena coalition government, is likely to face some serious action in the Jarandeshwar sugar factory case. The Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has reopened its probe into the alleged irregularities in the Jarandeshwar sugar factory linked to Pawar. This is said to be a big setback for Ajit Pawar.
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After joining forces with the BJP-Shiv Sena, the ED had probed the Jarandeshwar factory and dropped Ajit Pawar's name from it while filing a charge sheet. However, now that the ACB has started the investigation again, there is talk that Ajit Pawar will be in trouble. The probe was launched by the Pune ACB as soon as the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended. The probe has also been initiated in connection with alleged irregularities in the Jarandeshwar factory linked to Pawar, a plot in Koregaon, and a distillery project.
What is the Jarandeshwar factory case?
Attempts were made to save the Jarandeshwar sugar factory under former MLA Shalinitai Patil after it went into debt. Eventually, the factory went into the auction process. The factory was purchased by Guru Commodity, a private limited company, through the auction process. It is said that the factory was bought by a person associated with Ajit Pawar. Shalinitai Patil had alleged that the Jarandeshwar auction process was fake and approached the high court. A case was registered with Mumbai's Economic Offences Wing after the court ordered the registration of a case in this regard. The ED had then initiated an inquiry into the matter.
"In December 2021, complaints were received about mismanagement during the tenure of the Board of Directors of the Jarandeshwar factory from 1990 to 2010. Permission was granted to conduct an inquiry in February 2022 with the permission of the state government. An investigation is underway in that regard. The applicant, the non-applicant, and the then-director are under investigation. For this, we seek information from the concerned department." - Amol Tambe, Superintendent, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune