'Sanjay Barve did notice letter in irrigation scam investigation'

Sanjay Barve

In a surprising move, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief, Director General of Police (DGP) Param Bir Singh, filed an additional affidavit before the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on December 21, apologising for an error in his earlier affidavit filed on December 20, where he blamed his predecessor Sanjay Barve for 'not noticing' documents from 2018 that would have pointed to the then irrigation minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar's innocence.

Barve had filed an affidavit before the court in 2018, saying Pawar was involved in awarding irrigation contracts.

On the other hand, Singh's first affidavit, filed on December 20, concluded that there is no criminal liability as far as Pawar is concerned.

In his first affidavit, Singh said that Barve failed to 'notice' a letter dated March 26, 2018, from the Water Resources Department in response to a query by the Superintendent of Police, Amaravati, which would have turned the case in Pawar's favour. In the second affidavit, Singh said Barve did mention the letter in his own affidavit but did not deal with it. The error, Singh said, took place as the letter bore only the month and year, but not the date.

Tendering an unconditional apology, Singh changed the sentence, "However, unfortunately, it appears that the same (the letter) was not noticed by Barve, which fact becomes clear from the fact that neither it is mentioned nor contents of which are dealt with anywhere in the aforesaid affidavit (sic)," to, "However, unfortunately, Sanjay Barve has not dealt with the same anywhere in the aforesaid affidavit (sic)."

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