HC seeks ED reply to Deshmukh’s bail plea in money laundering case

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its affidavit in reply to the bail plea of Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh, arrested in a money laundering case.

A single bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudessai asked the ED to file its affidavit within a week and posted the bail plea for hearing on April 8.

The senior NCP leader has sought bail on health grounds and has termed the ED’s case as ”false and frivolous”. Deshmukh was arrested by the ED on November 2, 2021, and is currently in jail judicial custody.

The NCP leader approached the HC for relief on Tuesday after a special court rejected his bail plea earlier this month.

Deshmukh, in his bail plea filed in the HC through advocates Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh, has claimed he was implicated by the ED in a ”false and frivolous case” and that the agency was misusing its authority. The plea further refuted the charges of money laundering and said all alleged transactions cited by the central agency in the case were documented.

The applicant is 73 years old and suffering from various age-related ailments including a shoulder dislocation and hypertension, the petition said.

”…these ailments impacts his immunity level which necessitates his dependence on a constant support and help,” it said, requesting the court to show ”benevolent indulgence” and release Deshmukh on bail. The plea added that the ED’s case is wholly based on a statement given by dismissed cop Sachin Waze, who is a ”shady character”.

Deshmukh, in the plea, further said the statement of Param Bir Singh, former Mumbai police commissioner, can also not be relied upon as the state government and the Centre are presently at ”crossroads and Singh has been warming up to central agencies and hence has been given a safe passage”.

The special court, designated to hear cases related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), while refusing bail to Deshmukh, had noted that there was evidence to show that the NCP leader was actively involved in money laundering.

The ED’s case is that while serving as state home minister, Deshmukh misused his official position and through Waze, a police officer who has been dismissed from service after his arrest in the ‘Antilia’ bomb scare-Mansukh Hiran killing case last year, collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai The money was laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family, the central agency has alleged.