BackAnna Hazare seeks CBI probe into Maharashtra co-operative sugar mill scam
Hazare alleges that a large number of political bigwigs including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar are involved in the 'co-operative sugar factory scam'
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Mumbai: Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has filed three petitions in the Bombay high court, one of them a criminal public interest litigation (PIL) demanding a central probe into “losses to the tune of Rs25,000 crore" to the government caused by co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra over the years, two people aware of the development said.
A person familiar with the petitions and a lawyer associated with the case said the PIL demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry will be heard on 6 January. Both these persons requested anonymity. In the petition, Hazare has alleged that a large number of political bigwigs including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar are involved in this “co-operative sugar factory scam".
Hazare has also filed two civil petitions demanding court-ordered measures to revive Maharashtra’s once thriving co-operative movement as it is the backbone of the rural economy and regaining the co-operative sector’s control over sugar factories that have been illegally sold to private sector factories or companies with active support from Maharashtra politicians, said the person familiar with the development.
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In the petitions, Hazare has made three broad charges against politicians who ruled Maharashtra from 2004 to 2014 and the state government controlled by these politicians. Maharashtra was ruled by the Congress-NCP alliance and Sharad Pawar was Union agriculture minister during this period.
The petitions allege that co-operative banks controlled by politicians or their associates from the ruling parties were forced to give loans to co-operative sugar factories even though the factories had committed serious financial and administrative irregularities and also defaulted on their previous debt. This caused huge losses both to the co-operative banks and the factories, the petitions allege. Also, this transaction between banks and factories was carried out by the state government which stood guarantee for the debt, Hazare has alleged.
Referring to the 26 July, 2006 judgement of the Bombay high court which barred the state government from issuing operating licence to any new co-operative sugar factory, Hazare’s petition claims that as many as 58 new factories were issued licences between 2006 and 2015 in gross violation of the court order. Some of these licences were also issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena government which came to power in October 2014, the petitions say.
The petitions also allege that under a systematic plan, as many as 47 co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra were deliberately pushed into losses by a nexus of politicians, co-operative bank directors, and state government. “The modus operandi deployed was to get fresh operating licences issued to factories, getting the co-operative banks to give them fresh loans by making the state government the loan guarantor, and defaulting on these loans so that the loans are notified as NPAs and the sugar commissioner declares factories as loss-making. Then, these loss-making factories were bought at throwaway price by private operators who were fronts for the politicians," said the person who has drafted one of the three petitions, and who did not wish to be named. He said by cheaply acquiring co-operative sugar factories, private operators also got hold of thousands of acres of land that belonged to the factories. “The entire scam, involving defaults made by the factories, fresh credit, and loss to the state exchequer on account of the state being the guarantor, caused losses to the tune of Rs25,000 crore in 10 years and led to the increase of debt burden on the state by Rs1 trillion," said the person.
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The petitions claim that several government committees and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have pointed out these irregularities and furnished circumstantial evidence. The petitions seek HC orders for a CBI inquiry into the irregularities. Hazare has also sought directions from the court cancelling the state government orders for hand-over, merger, and acquisition of co-operative sugar factories, and directions to the state government, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and sugar commissionerate, to initiate measures to revive sick co-operative sugar units.
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