SC verdict on political row: Coincidence, says Maha minister on ED summons to Jayant Patil

Maharashtra minister Uday Samant on Thursday said it is a merely a coincidence that state NCP president Jayant Patil has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case ahead of the Supreme Courts verdict on petitions pertaining to the 2022 political crisis in the state.

The ED has summoned 61-year-old MLA Patil, the former state finance and home minister, for questioning on Friday in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the now bankrupt IL&FS, as per official sources.

The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Thursday on a clutch of cross-petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions of the Shiv Sena pertaining to the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.

Asked about Patil getting summons from the ED ahead of the SC verdict, state Industries Minister Samant told reporters, It is merely a coincidence.” Seven-term legislator Patil has been asked to depose before the ED here on Friday.

The federal agency recently initiated fresh action in this 2019 case after it searched the Mumbai offices of Deloitte Haskins and Sells and BSR and Associates, an Indian affiliate of global accounting firm KPMG, the two former auditors of IL&FS.

The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) filed for bankruptcy in 2018.

The premises linked to the two auditors in Mumbai have been searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to sources. A five-judge constitution bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will deliver its verdict on Thursday on pleas related to the Maharashtra political crisis last year that resulted in the fall of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray following a revolt by Shinde.

The MVA comprises the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress.

In a blow to the Thackeray bloc, the Election Commission earlier this year declared the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotted it the bow and arrow symbol of the party founded by Balasaheb Thackeray.

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