a special court dealing with cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) something made in mumbai extraordinarily sharp comments about the way Enforcement Directorate (ED) works. While granting bail to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut, the court not only termed his arrest as illegal, but also an arrest registered without any reason. The grant of bail and the observations made by Special Judge MG Deshpande have prompted the ED to file an urgent appeal before the Bombay High Court, but the longer order has enough material to substantiate the allegation by the opposition parties that the use of central agencies being done. political opponents. The judge has found that the underlying criminal case of fraud pertains to another group of people who committed the misdemeanor but were not arrested. As far as Mr. Raut and his aide, Praveen Raut, who were also granted bail, were concerned, it was essentially a civil dispute, and there was nothing to show that the money involved in their transactions was a “crime”. of income”. His arrest under the PMLA was illegal, the court said, as there was no underlying scheduled offence. The ED has alleged that fraudulent sale of houses related to a redevelopment project at Patra Chawl in Mumbai amounted to ₹1,039 crore. It further alleged that Mr. Praveen Raut was a proxy for Sanjay Raut, and the latter and his wife had used Rs.95 crore out of the proceeds to purchase the property.
misuse of agencies According to the court’s observations, this appears to be an unproven truth. In fact non-BJP political leaders have been unnecessarily targeted by the investigative agencies of the Central Government. While lawyers and activists have been arrested under anti-terrorism laws, mainstream political opponents often see cases of tax raids and money-laundering. The latter cases are made possible by the PMLA which allows the ED to file a money-laundering case whenever an FIR is registered by the police in a given list of offenses. In a sarcastic remark, the special judge has observed that the ED acts very fast while making arrests, but proceeds at the pace of the trial. Only ED officials know Section 19 (Power to make arrest) And Section 45 (Strict conditions for bail), but not the fact that they should also be prosecuted. The judge’s remarks also take home the fact that the conviction rate in money-laundering cases is extremely low. Instead of rushing to file appeals against adverse orders, the central agencies should consider that they are being used for political purposes.