Pune: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar may find himself in deeper trouble as the Shikhar Bank scam case heats up. With Assembly elections around the corner, questions arise about who is trying to entangle Pawar in this complex case.

In the Shikhar Bank scam case, there is a possibility of filing 50 more objection petitions against the closure report submitted by the Economic Offenses Wing.

The special session court in Mumbai on Thursday (July 25) indicated readiness for a joint hearing on the two closure reports submitted by the Economic Offenses Wing and the objection petitions. The hearing is scheduled for August 31.

A hearing in the special session court is ongoing regarding the Rs 25,000 crore Shikhar Bank scam. On Thursday, the hearing was held before Judge A.U. Kadam. During this time, senior lawyer Satish Talekar and Advocate Madhavi Ayyapan presented an application on behalf of Manikrao Jadhav.

In the Shikhar Bank scam case, the Economic Offenses Wing had initially filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Ajit Pawar in September 2020. This was followed by an additional closure report filed in March this year. Several cooperative sugar factories recently filed objection petitions against both reports.

Advocate Talekar informed the court that another 50 objection petitions are going to be filed by members of the cooperative sugar factories and requested a joint hearing on all the objection petitions and both closure reports.

Accepting this request, the court has scheduled the next hearing for August 31.