Sena leader Sanjay Raut at Arthur Road jail. (Express photo by Ganehs Shirsekar)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday evening failed to get an immediate stay from the Bombay High Court on the operation of the order passed by the special PMLA Court granting bail to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and his alleged aide, Pravin Raut, in connection with a money-laundering case linked to a redevelopment project in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. The high court’s refusal to suspend the bail order cleared the way for Raut’s release from jail.
Justice Bharati H Dangre of the Bombay High Court posted further hearing on the matter to Thursday.
Soon after the special court order was made available, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh along with advocates Hiten Venegaonkar and Ashish Chavan for the ED mentioned its appeal seeking cancellation of bail under Section 439(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) before Justice Dangre in her chamber Wednesday after court hours at 4:40 pm.
ASG Singh requested a stay on the execution of the order, which would mean keeping the special court order in abeyance.
The judge said she would have to go through the special court order and peruse the grounds under which the bail was granted and can take up the ED’s plea Thursday. However, ASG Singh urged the Court that the operation of the trial court’s order be stayed till then.
“Do you think the word of the court will reach the jail after 5.30 pm? If they are released, they can be re-arrested. Observations of the special court are on merits. I have to go through the order first,” Justice Dangre orally said.
“You (ED) are saying the matter was argued before a special court for nearly four weeks, and you want me to finish hearing now? Even if the hearing starts on Thursday, it may not conclude,” she added.
Senior advocate Aabad Ponda representing Pravin Raut opposed the ED’s plea and said a person released from jail can be re-arrested under Section 439(2) of the CrPC and the same can be invoked only after the persons are released and the high court decides the appeal of the ED in the agency’s favour.
Justice Dangre said the agency had a choice to withdraw its plea before her and file a new plea before the bench which decides on matters pertaining to Section 482 (Inherent powers of the HC to prevent abuse of process) of the CrPC or to argue Thursday.
After perusing the past verdicts submitted by ASG Singh, Justice Dangre noted that the high court has the power to suspend the bail order under Section 482 of the CrPC, however, the ED’s application was exclusively for cancellation of bail.
After ASG Singh said the ED’s plea be listed Thursday (November 10), the bench allowed the same.