As per law, if a predicate offence is closed, the linked case by the ED for alleged money laundering, cannot continue.(Source: File/ enhanced by AI)After a clean chit to late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and others in connection with the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now told court that the pleas for discharge filed by the accused, including NCP (SP) Rohit Pawar, should be decided on merits.In a reply filed on Tuesday, the ED said, “…it is requested to the Honourable court that the discharge applications may please be heard and decided on merits and appropriate orders be passed.”As per law, if a predicate offence is closed, the linked case by the ED for alleged money laundering, cannot continue. On February 27, the special court allowed the closure reports filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in 2020 and 2024, closing the case against all those probed, including former deputy CM late Ajit Pawar and companies linked to his wife and now Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar.Following this, the accused, including Rohit, had sought discharge last month, stating that since the predicate offence registered by the EOW has been closed, the ED case cannot continue.The ED in its reply to the plea said that it had filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) and three supplementary chargesheets, between 2023 and 2025, against a total of 17 accused. It said that information regarding “discrepancies and monetary transaction” were shared with the EOW.The ED also said that in 2020 when the EOW had first filed a closure report in the case, it had sought to intervene to oppose the report but the application was rejected. A petition against this rejection is pending before the Bombay High Court. In 2022, when the EOW filed a closure report for the second time, too, the ED had sought to intervene but was rejected by the court.With this, the ED said that appropriate orders be passed on the discharge pleas. The court on Tuesday partly heard arguments on the pleas and will decide on them later this month.Story continues below this adThe ED had filed its supplementary chargesheet naming Rohit Pawar; Baramati Agro Pvt Ltd, where he is a director; and Rajendra Ingwale, a director in Hi-Tech Engineering Corporation Pvt Ltd, allegedly linked to the acquisition of a sugar mill at an undervalued price in 2025. Fourteen others were named in earlier chargesheets. © The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Rohit Pawar