Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Maharashtra’s newly-elect deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has been cleared of properties worth Rs 1,000 crore associated with him and his family in a benami case filed in 2021.
The Income Tax department gave a clean chit to Pawar after the Prevention of Benami Property Transactions Appellate Tribunal dismissed the charges against him and his family citing lack of sufficient evidence, the NDTV reported.
According to the tribunal, the Income Tax department failed to attach any links between the sealed properties with Ajit Pawar and his family.
“There is no evidence to suggest that Ajit Pawar or his family transferred funds to acquire benami properties…it’s not that Ajit Pawar, Sunetra Pawar, and Parth Pawar transferred funds to procure benami properties,” NDTV quoted the tribunal.
When questioned by reporters if the accusations were dismissed after Ajit Pawar joined the Mahayuti alliance which also consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the senior politician replied, “When did I go with the BJP? It has been around 1.5 years. It is not always necessary to simply accept allegations. Everyone has the right to appeal.”
2021 raids
In October 2021, in a case pertaining to the benami transaction, the Income Tax department raided multiple properties linked to Ajit Pawar and his family. The properties sealed by the department included multiple lands in Maharashtra, a flat in Delhi, Jarandeshwar Sugar Factory in Satara, and a resort in Goa.
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