EOW initiates probe against Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction in ₹50 cr fund withdrawal case

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has begun a probe into the allegations of withdrawing ₹50 crore from the party fund against Shiv Sena (UBT faction). 

In the complaint, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) alleged that Shiv Sena (UBT faction) withdrew ₹50 crore from the party fund even after the Election Commission declared the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena.

The EOW of Mumbai Police has also written to the Income Tax Department seeking information regarding who is paying the tax of the UBT faction, according to Mumbai police, news agency ANI reported.

Last month, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena met Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar to lodge a police complaint for cheating and forgery against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena UBT functionaries. The complaint said that the UBT faction was misusing the party’s PAN and TAN details and fraudulently filing the TDS and Income tax returns of the Shiv Sena.

Last month, Uddhav Thackeray's faction of the Shiv Sena moved the Supreme Court against the Maharashtra Speaker's order rejecting the plea to disqualify MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction.

In his verdict last week, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar had rejected the disqualification petitions filed by both camps. He also ruled that the faction led by Shinde was the "real Shiv Sena political party when rival factions emerged on June 21, 2022".

In June 2022, Shinde and dozens of other Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a split in the Sena and the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government.

In February last year, the Election Commission of India allotted the name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party’s bow and arrow symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction, in effect recognising it as the original party founded by Balasaheb Thackeray.

In December 2022, in a separate case, the EOW informed the Bombay High Court that it had initiated a preliminary enquiry into the allegations of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his family members amassing disproportionate assets.