New Delhi: In a major relief for NCP leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar Maharashtra's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given him a clean chit in the Vidarbha irrigation scam.

The ACB, in its affidavit submitted in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, has ruled out Pawar's involvement in cases of alleged irregularities in irrigation projects in the Vidarbha region.

The 16-page affidavit, dated November 27 Nov was submitted at the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court by ACB superintendent Rashmi Nandedkar in which she has observed that there is no criminal liability on the part of the then Chairman of the VIDC (Minister of WRD) in respect of the process of granting sanction.

The affidavit was submitted on November 27, a day before the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena -NCP-Congress was sworn-in the state on November 28.

The court had asked the ACB to clarify its stand on the role of Pawar, a former Water Resources Development Minister, in these cases.

"The payment of EMD amount by the successful bidders for his competitors in some cases, issuing of tender booklets to some non-eligible bidders joint venture firms without following the pre-condition of the tenders etc. But these lapses are on the part of executing agencies of the tender work i.e Engineers, Divisional Accountant and the respective contractors. The Chairman of the VIDC/Minister of WRD cannot be held responsible for executing agencies, as there is no legal duty on his part", the probe agency said in its affidavit.

Pawar had also served as chairman of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC), which had cleared irrigation projects in which irregularities were alleged.

Minister of Water Resources Department is Ex-Officio Chairman of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation.

Pawar, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with others, was in-charge of Maharashtra's irrigation department when the Congress-NCP coalition government was in power in the state from 1999 to 2014. That was a period during which the scam, relating to alleged irregularities in various irrigation projects, took place.

(inputs from agencies)