Mumbai Jan 18 PTI A special court here on Tuesday rejected a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking default bail in an alleged money laundering case Deshmukh an NCP leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate ED on November 2 2021 and is currently in judicial custody In his application Deshmukh contended that the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases did not take cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED before remanding him in further judicial custody Therefore he was entitled to bail by default on technical grounds he said The ED opposed the plea saying the charge sheet had been filed within stipulated time Special Judge R N Rokade rejected the NCP leaders plea PTI SP KRK KRK

New Delhi Dec 23 PTI A Delhi court has directed the CBI to probe the role of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in the alleged leak of the agencys preliminary enquiry PE purportedly giving clean chit to him Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal said that even though Deshmukh was not arrayed as an accused in the CBIs charge sheet in the matter he may be the controlling mind of the larger conspiracy since he was the main beneficiary from the leak of the contents of the PE The court made the observation on Wednesday while taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against the CBIs sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari Deshmukhs lawyer Anand Daga and the politicians social-media handler Vaibhav Gajendra Tumane for allegedly trying to subvert the Bombay High Court directed preliminary enquiry against the ex-minister It appears that accused persons ie Daga and Tumane were closely associated with Anil Deshmukh and may have been acting in tandem with him who may be the controlling mind of the larger conspiracy whereas the accused persons may only be hands as he Deshmukh would have been and was the main beneficiary from the leakage of the contents of above PE and RC case the judge said He noted that the common objective of the conspiracy appeared to be to get access to the PE and investigation done in the matter somehow albeit in illegal and clandestine manner thereafter to use and circulate it and for obtainment of the same series of conspiratorial acts were seemingly performed by above accused persons The CBI seems to have left the engine horse pulling the cart thereby only arraigning those travelling in cart as without pull of engine or horse the ride of cart or conspiracy would not have been possible despite mountain of apparent evidence CBI seems to have forsaken the man pulling the strings or the controlling mind or master mind or head while only chargesheeting the hands for reasons best known therefore CBI is directed to discreetly and thoroughly further investigate the role of Anil Deshmukh in present matter with utmost alacrity in a time bound manner the court said It directed the agency to file a status report in this regard within four weeks without fail The CBI had earlier arrested Tiwari Daga and Tumane in the case who are currently in the judicial custodyTiwari was taken into custody for allegedly receiving bribe from Daga a Nagpur based advocate the CBI said The CBI had started a probe into the leak in which it emerged that findings of the PE were influenced The CBI had started a PE on the orders of the Bombay High Court which had issued the direction while hearing a public interest litigation on allegations of corruption against Deshmukh The claimed PE findings which were leaked showed the Deputy SP probing the matter had purportedly opined that no cognisable offence was made out against Deshmukh It was later converted into an FIR based on a contrasting opinion of the Deputy SP The opinion mentioned in the FIR said that cognisable offence was made out against Deshmukh The Preliminary Enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognisable offence is made out in the matter wherein the then Home minister of Maharashtra Shri Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty the CBI FIR alleged In the FIR the CBI had booked Deshmukh and others unidentified under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act for attempt to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of public duty Allegations against Deshmukh had surfaced after the removal of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh He was removed after the role of policemen Sachin Waze surfaced in the case of an explosive-laden SUV which was found parked outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani Waze was arrested by the NIA In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai they said The FIR alleged that Deshmukh and others exercised undue influence over the transfer and posting of officials PTI UK SMN SMN

Mumbai Dec 19 PTI The winter session of the Maharashtra legislature to be held between December 22 and 28 is likely to generate much heat as the opposition BJP may corner the Shiv Sena-led state government over a host of issues including the OBC reservation stalemate the ongoing strike of MSRTC workers the arrest of former minister Anil Deshmukh among others The Maratha quota issue the COVID-19 management in view of the emergence of the Omicron variant issues surrounding the arrest of Aryan Khan son of Shah Rukh Khan in a drugs case and the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB zonal officer Sameer Wankhedes caste credentials are also likely to rock both the Houses of the legislature The winter session in Maharashtra is generally held in Nagpur the second capital of the state but it is being held in Mumbai for the second time in a row due to the pandemic Former home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh who had resigned from the cabinet in April following charges of corruption was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate ED in November in a money-laundering case The case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh who was suspended by the state government earlier this month The arrest of Deshmukh and suspension of Param Bir Singh are two of the issues that the BJP is likely use to attack the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government in which Shiv Sena NCP and Congress share power during the winter session this time NCP minister Nawab Malik has been targeting NCB officer Wankhede who had led the raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast in October this year where it allegedly recovered drugs during a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast following which Aryan along was arrested along with others Malik targeted Wankhede alleging that he was born a Muslim but got his job in the Scheduled Castes quota by obtaining a bogus caste certificate Wankhede denied the allegation and his father filed a defamation suit against Malik This ongoing issue is also likely to figure during the session Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who has resumed official work after a cervical spine surgery is likely to attend the proceedings and the BJP is set to target him for not being on the field The post of the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has been lying vacant since February this year after Nana Patole resigned in order to take charge as the state Congress chief However there is no official mention about the election of speaker in the agenda of the session finalised so far The state government has maintained that the election couldnt be held earlier due to the pandemic As per the tradition the election of the assembly speaker has always been done unanimously but this time the government is concerned that the BJP may ask for an election through ballot Therefore the government plans to the amend the existing rules to enable that the speaker is elected through a voice vote on the floor of the house Three-time Congress MLA from Bhor in Pune district Sangram Thopte is the frontrunner for the coveted post The employees of the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation MSRTC have been on a strike since the last nearly two months over their demand of the transport bodys merger with the state government Their protest has posed hardships for the common people Transport minister Anil Parab who is a close aide of CM Thackeray is facing severe criticism over the handling of the issue The Supreme Court earlier this year quashed quota for the Other Backward Classes OBCs in local bodies after observing that the total number of seats earmarked for various communities including the SCs sand STs should not exceed 50 per cent of its total strength This BJP which has been targeting the MVA over its failure to handle the quota issue is likely to step up its attack during the winter session The Shakti Bill which has been drafted on the lines of the Disha Act is also expected to come up for discussion this time PTI MR NP NP

Mumbai Nov 22 PTI Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukhs son Hrishikesh Deshmukh was an active participant in money laundering and had assisted his father in projecting the ill-gotten money as an untainted donation the Enforcement Directorate ED told a special court here on Monday The anti-money laundering agency submitted an affidavit before the court designated to hear the cases of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA opposing the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Hrishikesh Deshmukh The special court has posted the pre-arrest bail plea for hearing on December 4 The applicant Hrishikesh Deshmukh was an active participant in the laundering of proceeds of crime The applicant assisted his father Anil Deshmukh to launder ill-gotten money into a complex web of companies it said The agency said if Hrishikesh Deshmukh is granted protection from arrest then there is a likelihood of him tampering with evidence or attempting to obfuscate the trail of the proceeds of crime The ED said the preliminary probe has revealed that 11 companies were controlled by the former home minister and his family members In the majority of these companies the applicant Hrishikesh Deshmukh is either a director of the company or a shareholder in it the affidavit said It added that Hrishikesh Deshmukh had connived with his father and transferred part of the Rs 470 crore bribe amount received from various bars and restaurants via dismissed police officer Sachin Waze through hawala to his associates That money was then transferred as donations by the associates to a trust run by the Deshmukh family With the help of Delhi-based shell companies the applicant Hrishikesh Deshmukh assisted his father Anil Deshmukh to launder the tainted money and projected it as untainted money by showing the same as donation the ED said It added that Hrishikesh Deshmukh along with other family members created a complex web of companies in which suspicious transactions had taken place The ED told the court that Hrishikesh Deshmukh had not cooperated in the probe despite six summons sent to him In his anticipatory bail plea Hrishikesh Deshmukh had stated that the entire proceedings are actuated with malice He had claimed that the investigations against him and his father commenced in a shady manner The plea had said that there is a witch-hunt campaign launched at the instance of certain vested inimical interests some blatantly false allegations have been leveled by persons like dismissed cop Sachin Waze and former police commissioner Param Bir Singh who have absolutely no credibility These unscrupulous persons are themselves knee-deep involved in several rackets of extortion fraud and even murder the pre-arrest bail plea had said Anil Deshmukh was arrested in the case by the ED on November 1 He is presently in judicial custody The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed an FIR against the senior NCP leader on April 21 on the charges of corruption and misuse of official positions The ED had also arrested two persons in the case Sanjeev Palande additional collector rank official who was working as Deshmukhs private secretary and Kundan Shinde Deshmukhs assistant The agency had earlier submitted a prosecution complaint equivalent to a charge sheet against the duo before a special court PTI SP NSK NSK

Mumbai Sep 23 PTI The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would hear on September 29 the plea filed by Maharashtras former home minister Anil Deshmukh against summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar said the Enforcement Directorate ED could file its affidavit in response to the plea if it felt necessary Deshmukh had earlier this month filed the petition seeking to quash five summons issued by the ED and said the case was a result of political vendetta On Thursday Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh appearing for the ED sought for the matter to be heard virtually so as to enable Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta to appear and argue for the agency However senior counsel Vikram Chaudhri and advocate Aniket Nikam appearing for Deshmukh argued that the court should hear the matter on Thursday itself for grant of interim protection from any coercive action The ED has been indulging in demeaning tactics This petition demonstrates the hapless state of affairs The tactics used by the ED are deplorable Chaudhri argued The high court said it would hear all the contentions raised in the plea on September 29 The ED may file its reply if they deem it necessary the HC said The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI filed an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of official position Deshmukh in his petition said the agencys whole case was based on malicious statements made by dismissed police officer Sachin Waze who is currently in jail in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai and the killing of businessman Mansukh Hiran Deshmukh refuted the EDs claims that while serving as home minister he misused his official position and through Waze collected Rs 470 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai The money was allegedly laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha an educational trust controlled by Deshmukhs family The entire claim of Waze giving Rs 470 crore to the applicant Deshmukh and the same amount being routed by the applicants family is factually incorrect the plea said It added that the amount received by the Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha was donations made before the period in which Waze alleges to have received illegal gratification from bars and restaurants There was never any cash received as illegal gratification from bar owners as claimed by Waze the plea said The ED has so far arrested two persons in the case Sanjeev Palande additional collector rank official who was working as Deshmukhs private secretary and Kundan Shinde Deshmukhs personal assistant The agency last month submitted its prosecution complaint equivalent to a charge sheet against the duo before a special court The CBI had lodged its FIR against Deshmukh after it conducted a preliminary enquiry against the NCP leader following an order from the HC on April 5 this year Deshmukh resigned from the post of home minister on April 5 but has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing PTI SP GK GK