Mumbai, August 26: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police registered an FIR on Monday against senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and 76 others in connection to their alleged role in the Maharashtra Maharashtra State Co-op. Bank (MSCB) scam. Another major name which has been included among the accused is Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) leader Jayant Patil.

On August 22, a bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and S K Shinde of the High Court said there was "credible evidence" against the accused in the case and directed the EOW to file an FIR within five days. The accused were allegedly complicit in causing losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore to MSCB between 2007 and 2011. BJP Coercing NCP Leaders to Jumpship? Devendra Fadnavis Denies Sharad Pawar's Charge

An inspection by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as well as a charge sheet filed by a quasi-judicial inquiry commission under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies (MCS) Act blamed the "decisions, actions and inactions" of Pawar and the other accused for the loss.

The NABARD audit report revealed breach of several banking laws and RBI guidelines by the accused in distribution of loans to sugar factories and spinning mills, and subsequent default on repayment and recovery of such loans.

Local activist Surinder Arora filed a complaint with the EOW in 2015 and approached the high court, seeking that an FIR be registered. In view of the deficiencies pointed out by NABARD, the RBI had in May 2011 directed to supersede the MSCB board of directors and appoint an administrator to look after its affairs.

The HC had last week held that prima facie, NABARD's inspection report, the complaint, and the charge sheet under the MCS Act showed there existed "credible evidence" against the accused in the case.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2019 08:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).