9 dam scam cases ‘with no links to Ajit Pawar’ closed

MUMBAI: Two days after Ajit Pawar was appointed deputy chief minister, the anti-corruption bureau closed nine cases of alleged irregularities in

irrigation

projects being executed by

Vidarbha

Irrigation Development Corporation in

Amravati district

.


ACB director general Parambir Singh told TOI on Monday that none of these cases has any connection with Pawar. “We probed 45 cases, of which nine have been closed. In 28 cases, departmental probe has been initiated against erring officials,” said Singh.

NCP leader

Nawab

Malik said, “This has proved us right. We have been saying from the start that there was nothing wrong. It shows that BJP was wrong in making these allegations.”

Soon after Fadnavis had taken over the reins as CM in October 2014, he had ordered a probe against NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare for their alleged involvement in irregularities in irrigation projects. While Pawar was not named in any of the cases, the ACB recorded his statement on October 21, 2015 while probing the Balganga irrigation project in

Raigad district

. The ACB has already registered criminal cases against F A Constructions, which was granted the contract for the project.

Singh said the ACB is probing a total of 2,656 tenders of 45 projects under the VIDC as two public interest litigations were filed in 2012 before the Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench. So far, an open inquiry has been completed in 212 tenders, out of which FIRs have been registered in 24 cases and chargesheets filed in five. An open inquiry into 45 tenders was closed as no offence was disclosed during probe. “We closed nine inquiries, none of which are in respect of Shri Ajit Pawar, who was then chairman of VIDC,” Singh said.

Singh said all 24 FIRs are currently under investigation and none of these cases has been closed. “Open inquiries into various projects and tenders are in progress.”

Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant said the ACB’s decision to close key cases raises doubts over the agency’s credibility. “Our contention that central and state agencies are misused for political gains has been established. Ajit Pawar was investigated by state agencies and now, after he has joined the government, the files have been closed. All this appears suspicious. In the past, too, crucial cases against Congress and NCP leaders have been dropped after they quit the party,’’ said Sawant.

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