Ajit Pawar's properties worth ₹1,000 crore cleared by I-T dept in benami case: Report
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dismissed claims related to the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill, citing “lack of proof” linking Maharashtra dy CM Ajit Pawar's funds.
The Income Tax (I-T) Department has cleared properties valued at over ₹1,000 crore that were seized in 2021 from Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his family. This move follows the dismissal of allegations by the Prevention of Benami Property Transactions Appellate Tribunal, which had claimed that Pawar and his family were the owners of benami properties, The Times of India reported.
Ajit Pawar, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader who previously faced investigations by the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate (ED), broke away from his uncle Sharad Pawar’s party last year to join the government as deputy chief minister. He was again sworn in again as Deputy CM in the BJP-led Maharashtra government on Thursday.
Speaking to the media about the relief granted by the IT Appellate Tribunal, Ajit Pawar said, “When did I join the BJP? It has been around 1.5 years. It is not always necessary to accept allegations blindly. Everyone has the right to appeal.”
Three years ago, the Income Tax Department had attached assets valued at ₹1,000 crore, alleging benami ownership, and also investigated Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill, which the ED had previously attached in connection with the MSCB scam and a money laundering case.
In its ruling, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dismissed the allegations against Ajit Pawar and others, granting him a clean chit in the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill case.
What are the allegations against Ajit Pawar?
A Mumbai-based company acquired Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Karkhana (SSK) through an MSCB auction and later leased it on a long-term basis to a firm linked to the Ajit Pawar family. The Income Tax (I-T) Appellate Tribunal, ruling on the mill’s ownership, said that no inference could be drawn regarding Ajit Pawar's involvement without evidence of his direct fund transfers for acquiring the alleged benami property.
In 2022, the I-T adjudicating authority ordered the release of Jarandeshwar SSK and three other properties attached under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. However, the case was later referred to the appellate tribunal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued to attach the mill under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a decision upheld by the adjudicating authority.
Ajit Pawar's legal team, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling, argued that properties purchased before the 2016 amendment could not be attached retroactively, as the Act only applies prospectively.
Allegations surrounding the mill claimed that the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank auctioned Jarandeshwar SSK in 2010 at a significantly reduced price while Ajit Pawar was on the MSCB board, The TOI report said.
Guru Commodity Services Pvt Ltd acquired the mill, reportedly with partial funding from Sparkling Soil Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Ajit Pawar and his wife, Sunetra. Critics alleged that Guru Commodity Services acted as a proxy owner, with control effectively residing with Pawar’s Sparkling Soil.
In 2021, I-T officials conducted searches at nearly 70 locations across Mumbai, Pune, Baramati, Goa, and Jaipur, uncovering alleged benami and unaccounted transactions worth ₹183 crore. Subsequently, properties valued at over ₹1,000 crore, reportedly linked to Ajit Pawar’s family and associates, were attached. These assets included a flat in Delhi, a resort in Goa, 27 land parcels in Maharashtra, an office at Nariman Point in Mumbai owned by Parth Pawar, and Jarandeshwar SSK. Most of these properties were acquired before the 2016 amendment.
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