Central agencies have taken active steps against two Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders – Sanjay Raut and Sharad Pawar – since the political turmoil in Maharashtra began with a rebellion in the Shiv Sena, ending in a victory for the BJP.
Sanjay Raut made his appearance before the Enforcement Directorate on Friday, 1 July, in a fresh summons issued to him by the central agency. On the other hand, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar was served notices regarding his election affidavits in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2020 by the Income Tax department on Thursday.
The action against Raut and Pawar is only a step up by the central agencies that have been cracking down on MVA leaders, something that the Thackerays and various MVA leaders have criticised regularly as politically-motivated moves.
The Congress even dubbed the new Maharashtra government, sworn in on Thursday, as "ED sarkar," referring to Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, and also a commonly known acronym of the Enforcement Directorate.
In addition to stalwarts like Sharad Pawar, Raut, Nawab Malik, and Ajit Pawar, some Sena rebels now aligned with the BJP-Shinde government are also facing such cases.
At least two rebels – MLA Pratap Sarnaik and MP Bhavana Gawali – are among those being probed by the ED. Further, the properties linked to the husband of rebel MLA Yamini Jadhav had been provisionally attached by the I-T department earlier this year.
1. Sanjay Raut
The ED claims that Pravin Raut, a close associate of Sanjay Raut, and the other directors of Guru Ashish Constructions misled the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority in the redevelopment of Siddharth Nagar, popularly known as Patra Chawl.
The ED has alleged that in 2010, Rs 83 lakh, which was allegedly a part of the proceeds of crime, was transferred to Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut, who used the money to buy a flat in Dadar.
The ED had attached assets linked to Raut earlier this year, in connection with the Rs 1,034 crore Patra Chawl land scam case.
2. Nawab Malik
Three months after the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis accused Nationalist Congresss Party (NCP) Nawab Malik of illegal land dealings, the Maharashtra minorities affairs minister was arrested by the ED on 23 February, in connection with a money laundering case involving gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
The ED is investigating a land deal wherein Nawab Malik purchased a Rs 3.3 crore property for Rs 50 lakh from Salim Patel, an alleged frontman of Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar.
"The property was purchased by illegal authorisation through the power of attorney," the ED said, alleging that the original owners of the property were not aware of the transaction and had not been paid for their share.
3. Ajit Pawar
The ED in 2021 attached assets worth Rs 65.75 crore belonging to a sugar mill in Satara district in connection with the money laundering case involving Maharashtra State Co-operative (MSC) Bank.
The ED has alleged that the funds used to purchase the cooperative mill were routed through another sugar mill, which in turn received the money from Sparkling Soil Pvt Ltd, of which former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and wife Sunetra are majority shareholders.
4. Anil Deshmukh
The Enforcement Directorate arrested former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is accused of corruption and bribery by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, in November 2021.
The case dates back to 20 March 2021, when Singh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that Deshmukh had abused his position of power to seek illegal monetary benefits. The ED, during its probe, has reportedly found that Deshmukh, while acting as the home minister, “received illegal gratification of approximately Rs 4.7 crore in cash from various orchestra bar owners” between December 2020 and February 2021.
As per the agency, the money was routed through shell companies and eventually transferred to the bank account of Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha, a trust allegedly formed by the Deshmukh family.
5. Anil Parab
The ED in 2022 filed a fresh case against Anil Parab, who served as the transport minister in Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra, in connection with the alleged violation of a coastal regulation zone in the construction of a resort in Ratnagiri's Dapoli.
Parab had allegedly bought the contended portion of land in Ratnagiri district's Dapoli in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore, but the deal was registered in 2019. A resort was built on the purchased area between 2017 and 2020. The land was allegedly sold in 2020 to a Mumbai-based cable operator Sadanand Kadam for a consideration of Rs 1.10 crore.
In March this year, the IT department said that tax-related irregularities were detected in relation to the purchase of the land in question and the construction of the resort.
6. Pratap Sarnaik
The ED in March 2022 attached assets worth Rs 11.35 crore of Shiv Sena rebel MLA Pratap Sarnaik in a Rs 5,600 crore fraud at the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).
His office and residence had been raided by the ED in 2020 in another money laundering case related to security firm Tops Grup.
The searches had come weeks after Sarnaik voiced his criticism of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and Republic TV Chief Editor Arnab Goswami.
7. Yashwant Jadhav
The ED in May issued summons to Shiv Sena leader and former chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) standing committee, Yashwant Jadhav, in connection with the alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Jadhav's wife is part of the rebel faction of the Sena.
Income Tax officials had provisionally attached a flat belonging to the Jadhavs in Bandra and nearly 40 properties linked to him on charges of tax evasion earlier this year.
8. Bhavana Gawali
Shiv Sena MP and rebel Bhavana Gawali is under the ED's radar in connection with a money laundering case linked to an NGO she runs.
The ED in 2021 attached assets worth over Rs 3 crore of an arrested aide of Gawali, Saaed Khan. Khan, accused of misappropriating funds from a trust called 'Mahila Utkarsh Pratishthan', was arrested by the ED in September 2021.
The agency has said that Gawali criminally conspired to convert the trust into a private company through Khan by "forgery and fraud" for layering of about Rs 18 crore funds.
9. Arjunrao Panditrao Khotkar
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this year attached properties worth Rs 78 crore of Shiv Sena leader and Uddhav Thackeray aide Arjun Khotkar in a case linked to irregularities in Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) worth Rs 25,000 crore.
A sugar factory linked with Khotkar had allegedly failed to repay a loan from MSCB. The firm was established on 235 acres of land and 100 acres of it was acquired without any monetary consideration.
10. Eknath Khadse
The ED in 2021 attached assets worth Rs 5.73 crore of NCP leader Eknath Khadse, his wife Mandakini Khadse, and their son-in-law Girish Chaudhri. It had also arrested Chaudhri.
Khadse and his son-in-law are being probed for buying land in Pune’s Bhosari village for Rs 3.75 crore when its actual value was over Rs 31 crore.
Khadse had switched to the NCP from BJP in 2020.
11. Anil Bhosale
The ED arrested NCP leader Anil Bhosale in March 2021 in connection with a Pune-based cooperative bank fraud case. The agency alleged that Bhosale, who was the director of Shivajirao Bhosale Co-operative Bank Ltd, had misused his position, conspired with the co-accused and siphoned off money from the bank.
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