The ED had summoned Anil Parab for questioning at in a probe linked to alleged violation of coastal regulation zone provisions in the construction of a resort at coastal Dapoli in Ratnagiri district
Anil Parab. File Photo
A senior Shiv Sena leader and state's transport minister Anil Parab failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in connection with a money-laundering case.
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The ED had summoned Anil Parab for questioning at in a probe linked to alleged violation of coastal regulation zone provisions in the construction of a resort at coastal Dapoli in Ratnagiri district.
The agency wanted to record Parab's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials had said on Tuesday.
An aide of Parab stated that the minister had submitted a reply to the ED summons on Tuesday itself, and therefore he did not appear before it.
Anil Parab, 57, is a three-time Shiv Sena legislator in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and is also the state parliamentary affairs minister.
After the raids on May 26, the ED had questioned Parab and recorded his preliminary statement as part of the case filed after taking cognisance of a recent Union Environment Ministry show-cause notice that termed the Dapoli resort "illegal".
Parab is also facing some other charges of alleged irregularities and corruption.
The first set of charges pertains to allegations of purchasing a parcel of land in Dapoli in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore. It is alleged that the land was subsequently sold to a Mumbai-based cable operator Sadanand Kadam in 2020 for a consideration of Rs 1.10 crore. In between, a resort was built on the land.
The Income Tax Department made these allegations after it conducted raids in March against some people allegedly close to Parab, including Kadam and deputy regional transport officer Bajrang Kharmate.
The CBDT had in March stated that construction of the resort started in 2017 and over Rs 6 crore was spent in cash for it.
"...relevant facts about the construction of the resort were not intimated to the registration authorities and accordingly, the stamp duty was paid only for the registration of the land on both the occasions i.e. in 2019 and 2020," it said.
The environment ministry notice reportedly stated that the building and the road of the Dapoli resort fall within 200 metres of the high-tide zone, which qualifies as a no-development zone under CRZ-III.
(with inputs from PTI)
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