“How can closure report be filed without FIR?” Bombay HC asks in PIL for registering FIR against Ajit Pawar, others in MSCB scam

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved judgment in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against former deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar and 75 others accused in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Ltd (MSCB) scam..Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and 75 others, including politicians of the Congress party, Shiv Sena, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been accused of being complicit in causing financial losses of over Rs 1,000 crore to the MSCB between 2007 and 2011..On Wednesday, the State’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) told the Court that it has received communication from the State Department of Co-operation that nothing substantial has been found to frame charges against the accused..Appearing for EOW, Advocate Deepak Thakare told the Court that the probing agency is going to file a closure report under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)..To this, Justice SC Dharmadhikari remarked,.“How can a closure report under Section 169 be filed without registering an FIR and conducting investigation? It is a purification drive.“.A Division Bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and SK Shinde has been hearing a PIL filed by Surinder Mohan Arora, who claimed that various loans were distributed to sugar factories and textile mills of the accused directors and Chairmen. These loans, given by the State Cooperative bank, were subsequently defaulted on, the petitioner highlights. Advocate Satish Talekar represented the petitioner..Last week, the Court had queried as to why no FIR has been registered and no investigation report was filed for over a year when the case involved cognizable offences..The petitioner has alleged commission of offences punishable under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery on purpose of cheating) read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860..In October, 2017, the High Court had put an interim stay on the inquiry against Ajit Pawar and the other accused. On January 29, 2018, the Court asked the petitioner to record his statement before the EOW. Last week, the Court summoned the Deputy Police Commissioner – an investigation officer of the EOW – to inform it of the steps taken after recording the petitioner’s statement last year..After hearing arguments, the Court has now reserved judgment in the matter..The petitioner has prayed for a High Court monitored probe into the case. He has also prayed for a direction to the investigation authorities to submit periodical progress reports. This apart, the plea seeks calls for directing disciplinary actions against erring officers..Image taken from here.