Special court rejects plea by Congress members seeking protection from arrest of MVA legislators

The plea had claimed the BJP-led central government was “misusing central agencies” to harass members of other parties, especially the MVA partners with malafide intention to suppress the then Maharashtra government comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress.

Special Judge MG Deshpande held that passing such a blanket order in an application filed by “third parties” would “set a bad tradition” and there is “no strong prima-facie case to grant any relief, either interim or even final, is made out by the applicants who are not apprehending their arrest.

The anticipatory bail application was moved last month by advocate Madhu V Holamagi, senior vice-chairman of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), and Congress members Yusuf Patel and Ranjeet Dutta, seeking protection from arrest of all, including members of the Parliament, Legislative Assembly and the
Legislative Council. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the application.

An authority letter was given to court on June 27, which was issued by MRCC president Bhai Jagtap claiming that the MPs and MLAs of his party and the NCP had authorised him to issue a letter on their behalf.

The court held that the authority letter has “no bearing to represent MPs and MLAs of the alleged MVA”. The judge also noted that there was no Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against any legislator of the MVA.

“Not a single MP or MLA of alleged MVA is the applicant apprehending his arrest, but the applicants who are not apprehending their arrest are apprehending the arrest of the legislators. This is a very astonishing and peculiar situation made in this application. Throughout the application, there is not a whisper that these three applicants are apprehending their arrest. On this count itself, the application is not maintainable and deserves to be rejected,” the judge observed.

He added that a relief sought by the applicant cannot be granted under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which empowers the high court and the sessions court to grant bail to a person apprehending his arrest.

“None of the allegations indicate that ED, Mumbai is proposing arrest of any MPs and MLAs of the (erstwhile) MVA,” the judge said.
He noted that some allegations related to jailed NCP leaders Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik cannot be part of the present plea as the special court is already dealing with their applications.

Moreover, the court said summons issued by the ED to the Congress’s interim president Sonia Gandhi cannot be part of the present application as the same falls within the jurisdiction of the special court in Delhi.

“Making such allegations and grounds herein is baseless and the same deserve to be rejected. They are praying for interim protection to third parties. Passing such a blanket order will set a bad tradition. The application itself is not maintainable and is rejected,” the court held.