Uday Samant says coincidence on ED summons to Jayant Patil ahead of SC verdict

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

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 said, It is merely a coincidence. Seven-term legislator Patil has been asked to depose before the ED here. 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.

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.