ED Attaches Assets Worth Rs 50 Crore of Sharad Pawar's Grandnephew Rohit Pawar

Mumbai: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached assets of a company owned by Rohit Pawar, the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and the head of the Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar party. Rohit Pawar is an NCP MLA.

The assets, valued at Rs.50.20 crore, belong to M/s Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK), a sugar factory owned by M/s Baramati Agro Ltd.

The ED attached the properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act, 2002 in a case related to the illegal sale of sugar mills by the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB). 

The attached assets consist of 161.3 acres of land as well as plant, machinery and the building of the sugar unit in Kannad in Aurangabad district.

​ED initiated the investigations in the case after a first information report (FIR) was registered by the Economic Offence Wing, Mumbai Police under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and of Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR was registered in pursuance of the Order dated August 22, 2019 of the Bombay High Court.

The FIR alleged that the SSKs were fraudulently sold by the then officials & Directors of MSCB at “throw-away prices to their relatives/private persons without following the due procedure”.

The investigation by ED further revealed that to recover the outstanding loan of Rs.80.56 crore of M/s Kannad SSK Limited, MSCB had to take possession of all the assets of SSK on July 13, 2009 under the SARFAESI (The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act, 2002.

On August 30, 2012, the MSCB conducted an auction of Kannad SSK with a low reserve price, which was based on an supposedly incorrect valuation report. 

The case says that apart from M/s Baramati Agro Ltd, two other parties had entered the bidding process. But the bidder with the highest bid was disqualified on flimsy grounds, while the other bidder was a close business associate of M/s Baramati Agro Ltd.

After investigation and evidence, it has been established that the acquisition of Kannad SSK by M/s Baramati Agro Ltd was “illegal” and assets so acquired are proceeds of crime under the section 2(i)(u) of the PMLA, 2002. 

Hence, a Provisional Attachment Order under PMLA was issued, attaching all the assets of Kannad SSK acquired for Rs.50.20 crore.

Earlier in this case, three Provisional Attachment Orders were issued where assets acquired at Rs. 121.47 crore were attached. 

Also, one main Prosecution Complaint and two Supplementary Prosecution Complaints have been filed before the Hon’ble Special PMLA Court, Mumbai for wrongful acquisition of three other SSKs. 

The Court took cognizance of all the prosecution complaints filed in this case.