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The Bombay High Court has set aside a special court’s order remanding former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in judicial custody and remanded him back in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody in the money laundering case.
The ED moved an urgent plea before the vacation bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar against the special court’s order from yesterday, refusing to extend Deshmukh’s police custody. The NCP leader was arrested on November 2, after over 12 hours of sustained interrorgation.
Justice Jamdar, passed the order soon after Deshmukh’s counsels did not object to ED’s application and consented to be remanded in the agency’s custody.
In the revision application argued by Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh assisted by Advocate Shreeram Shirsat the agency submitted that the Special court denied it Deshmukh’s custody for 9 days despite fervent requests denying sufficient and adequate opportunity of investigation especially in a case like the present one having wide serious ramifications and more so when the investigation is at a crucial stage.
Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhri and Aniket Nikam for Deshmukh submitted that they were volunteering to cooperate and not shying away from an investigation. Without getting into the merits or maintainibiity of the application, they argued.
Background
The ED’s case is based on the CBI’s corruption FIR against Deshmukh wherein Ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had asked dismissed cop Sachin Waze and two other officers to illegally collect Rs 100 crore from bar owners every month for him.
According to the ED probe, as Maharashtra’s home minister, Deshmukh had received atleast Rs 4.7 crore in illegal gratification in cash from various orchestra bar owners between December 2020 and February 2021 through dismissed cop Sachin Waze.
The agency firther claims that the Home Minister of Maharashtra laundered the bribe money with the help of Delhi based paper companies by attempting to color it as donation to his trust namely Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha.
Recently, the agency recently filed a prosecution complaint against Waze and 12 others. The ED which had then issued summons to Deshmukh at least five times cited his non-appearance for not naming him in the chargesheet.
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