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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Sunday quashed a special court order sending former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to judicial custody and remanded him to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till November 12 in a money laundering case.
The ED, in its application, said that the special court sent Deshmukh to judicial custody by denying the agency an adequate and adequate opportunity to investigate a case which has “widespread and grave ramifications”.
The agency said it can question Deshmukh only for five days, of which two were holidays (Diwali).
Taking Deshmukh to the agency’s custodial remand, the high court found that there was prima facie substance in the ED’s application regarding the validity of the special court’s order.
A vacation bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing an application filed by the ED challenging the November 6 special court order sending Deshmukh to 14-day judicial custody on the ground that it was bad in law and It is against the principles of natural justice.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the ED, told the court that custodial interrogation is the need of the hour based on the investigation conducted so far, as the case has alleged recovery of around Rs 100 crore.
The agency in its application said that the entire money transaction needs to be established and the involvement of foreign angle cannot be ruled out at this stage.
Read also: Don’t want to show evidence in Deshmukh case, missing Parambir Singh tells judicial panel
Deshmukh’s counsel Vikram Choudhary and advocate Aniket Nikam told the court that while they were opposing the petition on merits and maintainability, the NCP leader agreed and was voluntarily questioned by the ED.
The ED, in its application, had sought nine days’ custody of Deshmukh, but his lawyer Chaudhary told the court that they had agreed to only four days’ custody.
The HC found that there was prima facie substance in the ED’s application regarding the validity of the special court order.
Justice Jamdar said that since Deshmukh’s counsel has agreed to the ED’s custody, he is not going to elaborate on the legality aspect of the special court’s order.
After this, the High Court sent Deshmukh to ED custody till November 12.
The ED, in its application, said that the special court, by sending Deshmukh to judicial custody, denied the agency adequate and sufficient opportunity to investigate a case which has “widespread and grave ramifications” and more so, when the investigation is at an important stage.
The application said that the Sessions Judge (Special Court) should have appreciated that investigations into cases of massive fraud and money laundering, as at present, cannot be expected to be completed in a short period of time.
It said that the investigating agency needs to be given ample opportunity to investigate the entire matter so that it can collect evidence of sufficient quality which will help in getting to the root of the matter.
The ED said it now wants to confront Deshmukh with sacked constable Sachin Vaze and others, including the NCP leader’s family members such as his sons Hrishikesh Deshmukh and Salil Deshmukh and his chartered accountant.
The ED arrested Deshmukh on November 1 after 12 hours of interrogation in a multi-crore money laundering case. He was produced in a special holiday court on November 2, from where he was remanded in ED custody till November 6.
When he was produced in the special court on Saturday, the ED had sought more custody, but the court refused and sent him to judicial custody.
The ED had earlier told the special court that Deshmukh was the “main beneficiary” of the proceeds of the crime and was directly involved in the offense of money laundering.
The central agency, in its remand note submitted to the special court, had said that the NCP leader had emerged as the “important party” in the case, which alleged collection of Rs 100 crore, and maintained the involvement of foreign angle. cannot be denied.
It had also told the court that Deshmukh’s custodial interrogation was the need of the hour in the interest of the ongoing investigation, and that full money transactions needed to be established to bring the culprits to justice.
The ED had initiated probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI on April 21 this year registered an FIR against the NCP leader on charges of corruption and abuse of official position.
Deshmukh and others were booked by the CBI in a corruption case related to allegations of bribery of at least Rs 100 crore made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Deshmukh had earlier denied these allegations and said that the agency’s entire affair was based on malicious statements made by a tainted cop (Waze).
The ED had earlier arrested two people in the case Sanjeev Palande (an additional collector rank officer who was working as Deshmukh’s personal secretary) and Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh’s personal assistant).
The agency had earlier submitted its prosecution complaint (equivalent to a charge sheet) against the two before a special court.
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