The special MP MLA court has given one last chance to NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Chhagan Bhujbal and refused to give any further adjournment in the hearing of his discharge plea filed in a money laundering case in August 2021.
The court referred to a recent Supreme Court verdict asking special courts to expedite hearing in cases involving MPs and MLAs. The apex court also said the legislators should not be granted adjournments unless there are some rare and exceptional circumstances.
On Thursday, the special court court was scheduled to hear the discharge plea of Bhujbal but the defence sought adjournment, claiming that the senior counsel who was to argue was unavailable. The court granted adjournment on the condition that on the next scheduled date, the defence would continue the arguments and cooperate in expediting the hearing.
'Trial is proceeding at snail's pace'
“Several accused have filed discharge applications in the case. Out of these, the discharge applications of accused [Pankaj Bhujbal, Chhagan’s son, and Sameer Bhujbal, Chhagan’s nephew] came to be rejected. The matter is five years old. The trial is proceeding at a snail’s pace due to filing of various applications and lengthy arguments thereon,” the court observed, giving the defence an ultimatum to expedite the hearing.
The agency had in June 2015 filed a prosecution complaint or charge sheet before the PMLA court against 53 accused. In its complaint running into more than 11,000 pages, the agency alleged that from 2006 onwards, the Bhujbals and their associates laundered money to the tune of Rs4,264.25 crore. The complaint further alleged that Chhagan laundered money to the tune of Rs291.71 crore, while Pankaj and Sameer had laundered Rs359.30 crore each.
The Enforcement Directorate charged the Bhujbals and the others in 2016 for money laundering after various offences, including the alleged Maharashtra Sadan scam and a land deal in Kalina, came to the fore.
Maharashtra Sadan scam and money laundering charges
The ED had initiated proceedings against Sameer and others based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with Maharashtra Sadan scam and another case of cheating registered by local police in construction of a proposed residential building in Navi Mumbai.
The Maharashtra Sadan scam pertained to redevelopment of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi wherein the prosecution alleged that the contract for redevelopment of the state guesthouse was not advertised, and the contractor subcontracted the work to companies owned by the Bhujbal family and friends.
While discharging the accused in the case, the special ACB court held that there was no illegality in awarding the contract for construction of Maharashtra Sadan. After the discharge from the case, Bhujbal had sought discharge from the money laundering case.
