Link between ACB’s clean chit to Ajit Pawar and the race for city’s next CP
SANJAY BARVE Mumbai Police Commissioner
Set to retire in Feb next year
As the ACB chief in 2018, filed the first affidavit naming Ajit Pawar in the Rs 70,000 crore scam
PARAMBIR SINGH Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief
One of the contenders to replace Barve
irrigation scam
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The Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) clean chit to the National Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam comes at a time when the Mumbai police is prepping for a big change – the appointment of the city’s new police commissioner. And two police officers, both integral to the ACB’s investigation into the Rs 70,000 crore scam, are at the center of this change.
The incumbentMumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve had filed the first affidavit before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court in November 2018 naming Pawar in the scam. He was then the head of ACB. And as Barve prepares to exit the Mumbai police’s Crawford Market headquarters in February next year, the current head of ACB, Parambir Singh, who has filed the latest affidavit declaring there’s not a shred of evidence linking Pawar to the scam, is one of the candidates waiting in the wings to replace Barve.
The affidavit filed by Singh is a 180 degree turn on the one filed by Barve. Barve had pinned the entire responsibility of the scam -- cost escalations, delays, and non-realisation of the projected goals – on Pawar, who was the irrigation minister from 1999 to 2009 in two successiveCongress-NCP governments . But Singh’s affidavit dismisses the charges as Barve’s “inferences” and accuses him of not taking into account the material placed before him, including an Irrigation Department report.
Barve, an IPS officer of 1987 batch, will retire in February next year, when his three-month extension, his second in six months, ends. There are six officers in the line to replace him --Bipin Bihari, Surendra Pandey, D Kanakaratnam and Hemant Nagrale of 1987 batch and Singh and Rashmi Shukla of 1988 batch.
Singh, due to his experience of working in Mumbai and Thane, is the top contender. Before taking over as ACB chief, Singh was the commissioner of Thane police and before that he was the deputy inspector general with the state’sAnti-Terrorism Squad . In Mumbai, he served as the additional commissioner of police, west region.
Barve had gone to the extent of calling the case against Pawar a “weird conspiracy”, where the Water Resources Department had “defrauded the government itself”. But Singh’s affidavit says that he acted in haste, filing a report before the court even before investigations in all the cases were completed. “Now we have every document and are in a better position to reach any conclusion,” Singh said in his affidavit on Thursday.
Social activist Anjali Damania, who is a petitioner in the case against Pawar, called Singh’s clean chit “extremely shameful”. Damania said she will write to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High court requesting that ACB affidavit be rejected.
The Nagpur bench is likely to hear the matter next on January 15. And question it will most likely ask is – did nobody perpetrate the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam?
Set to retire in Feb next year
As the ACB chief in 2018, filed the first affidavit naming Ajit Pawar in the Rs 70,000 crore scam
PARAMBIR SINGH Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief
One of the contenders to replace Barve
Filed an affidavit before HC on Thursday giving a clean chit to Ajit Pawar in the
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The Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) clean chit to the National Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam comes at a time when the Mumbai police is prepping for a big change – the appointment of the city’s new police commissioner. And two police officers, both integral to the ACB’s investigation into the Rs 70,000 crore scam, are at the center of this change.
The incumbent
The affidavit filed by Singh is a 180 degree turn on the one filed by Barve. Barve had pinned the entire responsibility of the scam -- cost escalations, delays, and non-realisation of the projected goals – on Pawar, who was the irrigation minister from 1999 to 2009 in two successive
Barve, an IPS officer of 1987 batch, will retire in February next year, when his three-month extension, his second in six months, ends. There are six officers in the line to replace him --Bipin Bihari, Surendra Pandey, D Kanakaratnam and Hemant Nagrale of 1987 batch and Singh and Rashmi Shukla of 1988 batch.
(From left) Sanjay Barve, Ajit Pawar and Parambir Singh
Singh, due to his experience of working in Mumbai and Thane, is the top contender. Before taking over as ACB chief, Singh was the commissioner of Thane police and before that he was the deputy inspector general with the state’s
Barve had gone to the extent of calling the case against Pawar a “weird conspiracy”, where the Water Resources Department had “defrauded the government itself”. But Singh’s affidavit says that he acted in haste, filing a report before the court even before investigations in all the cases were completed. “Now we have every document and are in a better position to reach any conclusion,” Singh said in his affidavit on Thursday.
Social activist Anjali Damania, who is a petitioner in the case against Pawar, called Singh’s clean chit “extremely shameful”. Damania said she will write to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High court requesting that ACB affidavit be rejected.
The Nagpur bench is likely to hear the matter next on January 15. And question it will most likely ask is – did nobody perpetrate the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam?
