A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has rejected the bail application of former state home minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case, stating that prima facie there is sufficient evidence to hold that he was involved in money laundering.
The case had arisen out of corruption allegations made against him by former city police chief Param Bir Singh after he was shunted out of the prestigious post. The senior NCP leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in early November last year. The agency’s chargesheet filed in end-January had claimed that the politician had laundered his unaccounted cash money to the tune of Rs. 10.42 crores in the bank account of an NGO run by his family - Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha. This was allegedly done in the garb of donations through Delhi-based shell companies.
Claiming bail, Deshmukh had alleged that dismissed policeman Sachin Vaze, on whose statement the ED was heavily relying, had collected money from bars and restaurants on the instructions of Singh and not him, contrary to allegations of Singh. It is this money that was laundered as per the ED’s case. Deshmukh had cited the statement of Vaze before the state appointed judicial KU Chandiwal Commission in which Vaze had taken a U-turn from his statements before the central agency. Regarding the contradictions in witness statements, Judge RN Rokade observed that there are contractions in witness statements, but that cannot be dealt with at the present stage.
The ED had opposed Deshmukh’s bail application and told the court in its response that Deshmukh was the ‘brain behind the whole conspiracy’ of making collections from resto-bars. It told the court that he had avoided appearing before it for investigation, despite multiple summonses and if released on bail, he may abscond. A detailed order is yet to be made available.
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