Further trouble is in store for former Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Department issuing a notice to him and 42 others for alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB).
On Wednesday, notices were issued by the additional registrar of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Department, Shivaji Pahinkar to Mr. Pawar and other top politicos, who were earlier part of the MSCB’s directorial board, for “fixing accountability in connection with irregularities and financial losses” amounting to a total of Rs. 1595 crore that was suffered by the MSCB during three financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11.
The board of directors, headed by the NCP’s Manikrao Patil, was disbanded after the RBI rapped the bank for high negative net worth in 2012.
Other than Mr. Pawar and Mr. Patil, other top politicians who have received notices include Vijasinh Mohite Patil and Amarsinh Pandit of the NCP, Dilip Deshmukh and Manikrao Kokate of the Congress, the Shiv Sena’s Anandrao Adsul and Pandurang Phundkar of the BJP among others.
Earlier in May this year, a report by the State Cooperative Commissioner Dinesh Aaulkar had submitted a report to the government alleging that the decisions of the MSCB’s erstwhile board of directors were responsible for the irregularities and financial losses suffered by the State’s apex cooperative bank.
The notice gives Mr. Pawar and the others a fortnight to clarify their stand. According to sources, the erstwhile directors, if found guilty, could be barred from participating in cooperative elections for six years.
