Clean chit to Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar in I-T’s benami property case | Mumbai News – Times of India

Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar

MUMBAI: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal granted substantial relief to Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and his family members, who faced allegations of owning properties through benami transactions. Three years prior, the Income Tax department attached assets worth Rs 1,000 crore, alleging benami ownership. They also investigated Jarandewhar Sugar Mill, which the Enforcement Directorate previously attached in relation to the MSCB scam money laundering case.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who faced I-T and ED investigations, separated from his uncle Sharad Pawar’s party last year and joined the govt as Deputy CM. He was again sworn in as Deputy CM in the BJP-led state govt on Thursday.
In its order, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal rejected the I-T allegation against Pawar and others. The tribunal also gave a clean chit to Ajit Pawar pertaining to the Jarandewhar sugar mill case.
A Mumbai company acquired the mill through an MSCB auction and subsequently leased it long-term to a firm linked to the Ajit Pawar family. Regarding the mill, the I-T Appellate Tribunal ruled, “It cannot be inferred based on the position held by Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank or any other company unless it is proved that funds were transferred by him to acquire the benami property.”
In 2022, the I-T adjudicating authority ordered the release of Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Karkhana and three other properties attached under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. Subsequently, the case went to the appellate tribunal. The mill remained attached by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, confirmed by the adjudicating authority.
In the I-T case, Pawar’s legal team referenced a recent Supreme Court ruling stating that attachments made after the 2016 Act amendment couldn’t apply to properties purchased before the amendment, as the act applies prospectively, not retroactively.
The allegations suggested that Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank auctioned Jarandeshwar SSK in 2010 at a reduced price when Ajit Pawar served on the MSCB board. Guru Commodity Services Pvt Ltd purchased the mill, partially funded by Sparkling Soil Pvt Ltd, associated with Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra. Allegations claimed Guru Commodity Services acted as a proxy owner, with actual control residing with Pawar’s Sparkling Soil company.
In 2021, I-T searched approximately 70 premises across Mumbai, Pune, Baramati, Goa, and Jaipur, discovering unaccounted and benami transactions worth Rs 183 crore. They subsequently attached properties valued over Rs 1,000 crore allegedly controlled by Ajit Pawar’s family and associates.
These included a Delhi flat, a Goa resort, 27 Maharashtra land parcels, Parth Pawar’s Nirmal Building office at Nariman Point, and Jarandeshwar SSK. Most properties were acquired before 2016.