Soon After Swearing In As Maharashtra Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar Gets HUGE Relief In Benami Property Case

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar received big relief from the Income Tax Department as it cleared his properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore seized in 2021.

The development came after the Prevention of Benami Property Transactions Appellate Tribunal dismissed the charges that he and his family owned Benami property, reported NDTV.

Notably, the ruling comes a day after Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Sena’s Eknath Shinde at the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister.

On October 7, 2020, the Income Tax department raided several locations linked the the NCP leader and his family over allegations that he held benami assets. Several properties belonging to him were attached in the case including a sugar factory in Satara, a flat in Delhi, and a resort in Goa.

However, the probe revealed that none of the properties were registered in Pawar’s name.

The charges were rejected by the tribunal citing a lack of sufficient evidence. It stated that the properties were paid for using legitimate financial routes adding the Income Tax Department had failed to establish any link between benami properties and the Pawar 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,” the tribunal said.

Representing Pawar and his family, advocate Prashant Patil said that the allegations had no legal standing and that the family had not done anything wrong. He asserted that the transactions for acquiring these properties were done through legitimate channels, including the banking system, and there were no irregularities in the records.