Mumbai, Apr 22 (PTI) A special court here on Wednesday discharged NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and others in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB).

Special judge for MPs/MLAs cases Mahesh Jadhav accepted the discharge applications of all 17 accused and ruled that the case stood closed.

The ED's money laundering case stemmed from an August 2019 FIR registered by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) that alleged fraudulent sale of 'Sahakari Sakhar Karkhanas' (cooperative sugar mills) by then officers and directors of MSCB at throwaway prices to their relatives or other private persons without following due procedure.

However, a special court for MPs/MLAs cases recently accepted the EOW's closure report in the case.

Rohit Pawar and others named as accused in the ED's case then sought discharge from the money laundering case.

The Central probe agency opposed their pleas, stating that while the closure report was accepted by the lower court, a 2021 writ petition challenging earlier rejection of its intervention application was still pending before the Bombay High Court.

During the course of investigation, the ED had filed one main 'prosecution complaint' and three supplementary complaints between March 2023 and July 2025 against a total of 17 persons.

It urged the court to decide the discharge applications on merit.

The MSCB is Maharashtra's apex cooperative bank. The EOW had alleged that the state exchequer suffered losses of Rs 25,000 crore between January 2007 to December 2017 due to irregularities in disbursal of loans by the bank. PTI AVI RSY KRK

Money laundering prosecution linked to cooperative bank scam and predicate offence closure report in focus A special court considered discharge applications in an Enforcement Directorate money-laundering case linked to the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank scam. The prosecution stemmed from allegations of fraudulent sale of cooperative sugar mills without due procedure and irregular loan disbursal causing losses to the state exchequer. The ED had filed a main prosecution complaint and supplementary complaints against 17 accused and opposed discharge, citing pending proceedings related to the underlying closure report and writ petition. The issue concerned the continuation of the money-laundering case after acceptance of the closure report in the predicate offence.