The Maharashtra government on Monday opposed a petition filed by an activist seeking transfer of the probe into the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam allegedly involving Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to the CBI.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and Manish Pitale that based on the complainant Surinder Arora’s public interest litigation, filed in 2019, the High Court, in August that year, ordered the State Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to probe the case.
“The EOW lodged an FIR and carried out investigation. On September 5, 2020, a closure report was submitted to the sessions court,” Mr. Kumbhakoni said.
Mr. Arora has filed a protest petition in the sessions court challenging the closure report, which is pending for hearing, he said.
“Hence, at this stage the petitioner cannot ask for transfer of probe to the CBI. We (government) have a preliminary objection to this petition,” the Advocate General said.
The Bench directed…