ACB ends probe in nine irrigation graft cases

ACB CLARIFIES THAT NONE OF THE CLOSED CASES WERE RELATED TO NCP’S AJIT PAWAR AND THAT THE DECISION TO CLOSE THEM WAS TAKEN MONTHS AGO

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) closed the probe in nine cases of alleged corruption in irrigation projects in the state on Monday but clarified that none of them were linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

The ACB’s statement came after the Congress claimed Ajit Pawar was “exonerated” after he broke ranks from his party and backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in forming the government two days ago.

The move also came three days ahead of a final hearing in the Nagpur bench of the Mumbai high court in a clutch of petitions against Pawar’s role as one of the main accused in the irrigation scam. The inquiry against Pawar was instituted by chief minister Fadnavis in December 2014.

The ACB said the closure of the nine tenders was a routine matter.

“This order of conditional closure of nine enquiries dated today is from the above 45 enquiries closed and these were received from ACB units for closure in this office between 2-5 months ago,” said Ajay Aphale, additional superintendent of police (HQ), ACB.

Some activists also agreed. “I agree that these nine tenders pertain to some minor projects and may not even be directly linked to Pawar. But with Pawar as the deputy chief minister, there is no doubt that the investigation files in the scam will close sooner than later and he will get a clean chit,” said activist Anjali Damania, who exposed the irrigation scam in the Konkan.

The Congress alleged that the only decision of the new government taken in “public interest” was to close “all cases of corruption and malfeasance”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party refuted the allegations.

“The BJP has been extremely sincere about irrigation probe. Several chargesheets have been filed in this scam. At the end of the day, the case is being monitored by the court. There is no question of any quid pro quo,’’ said Keshav Upadhye, BJP spokesperson.

The scam, pegged at around ~70,000 crore, relates to alleged corruption and irregularities in approval and execution of various irrigation projects during the Congress- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rule.

These projects were undertaken by Vidharba and Konkan Irrigation Development Corporations.

Ajit Pawar was among the ministers who were in charge of the irrigation department at different times between 1999 and 2014 during the Congress-NCP coalition rule. He has repeatedly denied any role in the alleged scam.