Money laundering case: SC upholds Bombay HC order granting bail to Anil Deshmukh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s order granting bail to former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

The Supreme Court had on Monday agreed to hear a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the Bombay High Court order in favour of Deshmukh.

On October 4, the high court had granted bail to Deshmukh in the case registered by the ED observing “two components of credits” in the account of his family trust were not “proceeds of crime.

The high court had, however, stayed the order till 13 October after Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh said the ED will challenge it in the apex court.

Two components of credits (Rs 10.42 crore and Rs 1.12 crore) in the account of a trust controlled by the Deshmukh family, flagged by the ED, were not “proceeds of crime,” the high court had noted in the order.

The high court had also said the statements given by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and dismissed officer Sachin Waze alleging that Deshmukh had taken money from police officers for favourable postings were “prima facie hearsay”.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, arrested on 2 November, 2021, is also facing a corruption case registered by the CBI.

The high court had in April 2021 directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry over allegations of extortion levelled by Param Bir Singh.

The CBI, based on this inquiry, registered an FIR against Deshmukh and his associates for alleged corruption and misuse of official power. The ED began its probe after the CBI registered the case.

The ED claimed Deshmukh had misused his official position and collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

The money was channelled to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family, it alleged.

Param Bir Singh had alleged in March 2021 that Deshmukh, the then home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars in Mumbai.

The then assistant police inspector Waze, arrested in the ‘Antilia’ bomb scare case in March last year, too, had levelled similar allegations.

Deshmukh has denied the allegations.

On 26 September, the apex court had expressed displeasure over the delay in hearing Deshmukh’s bail plea and directed the high court to decide it expeditiously. The bail plea was pending in the high court since March 21.

With inputs from agencies

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