This is a big win for Rohit Pawar, who is an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for the NCP (SP) party and the sixteen others accused in the ED’s money laundering investigation into the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. The court took this action after the Economic Offences Wing closed its original investigation, and this is a crucial requirement for the ED to continue with their own case.
Court discharges 17 in ED case
Special Judge Mahesh Jadhav, who handles cases involving MPs and MLAs, approved the requests of all seventeen accused to be released from the charges and said the case is now over. Those released from the charges include a company linked to Ajit Pawar’s family, and agricultural and sugar businesses the ED had accused.
Between 2023 and 2025, the ED filed an initial complaint and then three additional chargesheets against the seventeen people. The ED said the accused were involved in buying sugar factories for less than they were worth, and this caused the bank to lose money.
Why the case collapsed
You can’t have a money laundering case unless there’s a main crime (called a ‘scheduled offence’ or ‘predicate offence’) happening at the same time. On February 27th, the special court agreed with the Economic Offences Wing’s reports from 2020 and 2024 which closed the original investigation involving the people looked into including Ajit Pawar and businesses linked to his wife Sunetra Pawar.
Judge Jadhav said that because the police closed their case against Rohit Pawar, there is no main crime for him to be accused of. He stated the ED’s investigation (ECIR) wouldn’t be valid and that the closure report is the same as being found not guilty, legally allowing Rohit Pawar to be released.
Background of MSCB allegations
The ED’s investigation started because of a police report (FIR) from August 2019. This report said that the people in charge of the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank at the time had fraudulently sold off cooperative sugar factories. These factories were supposedly sold for very low prices to family members or other individuals without following the correct rules.
The Economic Offences Wing also said that problems with how loans were given out by the bank caused the state government to lose 25,000 crore rupees (a very large sum of money) between January 2007 and December 2017. The ED’s claims of money laundering are based on these accusations.
ED’s stance and court’s reasoning
The ED tried to stop Rohit Pawar and the others from being released, mentioning a case still going on in the Bombay High Court from 2021 involving someone intervening in the case. They said that statements Rohit Pawar and others gave while being questioned under the PMLA (the money laundering law) showed they were guilty and had the intention to do wrong.
The ED also argued that as Rohit Pawar hadn’t been officially accused in the Economic Offences Wing case, he couldn’t benefit from it being closed. The court didn’t agree with these arguments; they said money laundering can’t continue if the original crime has been closed.
The following were the main arguments presented to the court:
– The ED referred to a pending case in the Bombay High Court
– The ED used statements given under the PMLA law
– The ED submitted one main complaint and three additional ones
– The court said the ED’s investigation can’t continue without a main crime
What happens next
With all seventeen accused being released, the special court’s decision ends the ED’s case related to the Economic Offences Wing’s police report. You can appeal a release to a higher court, but the main reason for this decision is the closing of the original case.
The Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank is a very important part of farming in the state. Because of this, the result of the case is important to more than just those in the courtroom, as the bank is central to how money works in the state’s farming businesses.
Here’s a quick look at when the main things happened:
– August 2019: The Economic Offences Wing filed a police report alleging that sugar factories had been sold off in a fraudulent manner.
– 2020 and 2024: The Economic Offences Wing closed their investigations.
– February 27th: The special court accepted the Economic Offences Wing’s closure reports.
– 2023 to 2025: The ED filed complaints against seventeen people.
– Wednesday: The court released Rohit Pawar and the others.
