Mumbai: The ED arbitrarily and illegally arrested former Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) chief Anil Pawar for money laundering and running a cartel of builders and civic officials involved in illegal constructions, argued his counsel Ujjwal Kumar Chavan said on Thursday.
Pawar, an IAS officer, who is in judicial custody in the Arthur Road jail, has chosen not to seek bail. Instead, his legal team plans to file a petition challenging the legality of his arrest, Chavan said. The team has alleged that the ED’s case is based on statements obtained under coercion, with several individuals being allegedly threatened with arrest unless they depose against Pawar. Chavan claimed that no cash, jewellery or bullion has been seized from Pawar’s residence and that the ED has no concrete evidence.
Calling the arrest “unsustainable in law,” he averred that the ED’s case contained “multiple factual inaccuracies.” He pointed out that the probe pertains to 41 unauthorised constructions undertaken between 2008 and 2021, while Pawar assumed charge as VVCMC chief in January 2022. “Hence, the question of receiving any bribe in connection with those buildings does not arise,” Chavan added.
Adv. Ujjwal Kumar Chavan (lawyer of Anil Pawar) |
Referring to the remand report, he further said that the agency has claimed that Pawar was operating a nexus of builders and officials and collected a commission of Rs20-25 per sq ft to allow unauthorised constructions. However, Chavan maintained that this claim was “entirely separate” from the 41 buildings cited in the FIR, which form the basis of the scheduled offences. “Since those constructions were completed before Pawar’s appointment, the very foundation of the predicate offence and the bribery allegation is missing,” he asserted.
Rebutting the ED charge of Pawar's link with Rs1.33 crore seized from the Nashik residence of builder Janardan Pawar, Chavan said that though the latter is Pawar's nephew, he is an independent builder with regular income tax filings. “There is no link between this cash and any crime proceeds,” he said, adding that Janardan had already explained the source of funds.
According to the ED, Pawar allegedly created several entities in the names of family members, relatives and benamidars to launder bribe money. The agency claimed that the formation of these shell entities coincided with his posting as VVCMC chief. Also, the companies were primarily engaged in the construction and redevelopment of residential towers as well as warehouse projects, the agency added.
Probe further revealed that Pawar’s wife, Bharti, held directorships in several firms, which the ED described as “dummy directorships”. Contending the claim, Chavan said Bharti Pawar was a capital investor in more than three companies belonging to relatives, which were genuine businesses, regularly audited, tax-compliant and had independent income-generating operations.
Giving a detailed account, Chavan said Bharti has been associated as director in M/s Janardan Agri, M/s BSR Realty, M/s J A Pawar Builders and M/s Shrutika Enterprises (a firm owned by their daughter). He added that these firms were established between 1997 and 2019, much before Pawar’s appointment as the VVCMC chief in 2022. “Therefore, it is incorrect to suggest that these companies were incorporated to launder bribes collected,” Chavan maintained, asserting that Bharti was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the firms.
Responding to the ED's claim that Pawar bought luxury sarees and jewellery worth crores from tainted cash received from YS Reddy, co-accused and then deputy director of town planning, Chavan bluntly said that the items are connected to Reddy and not Pawar. The agency has failed to establish any link to Pawar, he added.
IN BRIEF
Pawar's legal team plans to file a petition challenging the legality of his arrest
No cash, jewellery or bullion has been seized from Pawar’s residence, says team
Illegal constructions cited by ED mushroomed much before Pawar was appointed, team claims
