Sharad Pawar goes to ED office, Section 144 in parts of South Mumbai

In view of NCP leader Sharad Pawar's visit to the ED office, the Mumbai Police on Thursday night have imposed Section 144 of CrPC outside the Enforcement Directorate's office at Ballard Pier and in other areas of south Mumbai. Pawar has been named in a money-laundering case by the ED in connection with a scam at Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. He has said that he will visit the ED office, even though it has not summoned him yet. A late-night communication from the police said that prohibitory orders have also been imposed under the jurisdictions of several south Mumbai police stations. The details of the areas in which Section 144 has been imposed are:

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NCP workers had staged protests in Mumbai earlier when the ED named Sharad Pawar in the case. Anticipating similar protests on Friday, orders prohibiting movement of groups of people. It has been prohibited under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been imposed outside the ED office, a police official said on Thursday night. "State NCP's office is in the same area and there is a possibility that a large number of NCP supporters would gather during Pawar's visit," he said.

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What is ED's case against Sharad Pawar?

Days ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a case against the NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar and others in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case on Tuesday. Officials said that an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, has been registered by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The case is based on a Mumbai Police FIR. The FIR had named former chairmen of the bank, ex-deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar and 70 former functionaries of the cooperative bank. However, some reports have said that Sharad Pawar was not named in the initial FIR by the Mumbai Police.

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Sharad Pawar's reaction

Responding to the development, Pawar said that he is not surprised. In a rather sarcastic tone, Pawar thanked the central agency for naming him in the case. He claimed that the move has been taken after seeing the response of people during his rallies. Speaking to reporters, Pawar said: "I thank the probe agencies because they have involved my name in a case relating to such a bank of which I am not even a member of, I was not involved in its decision-making. If they have filed a case against me too, I welcome it. I would have been surprised had such action not been taken against me after the kind of response I receive during my visits to various districts of the state," Sharad Pawar added.  Pawar also confirmed his visit to the ED office in the tweet below:

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