Bombay HC begins hearing Anil Deshmukh's bail plea in money laundering case

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday began the hearing of the bail plea of NCP leader Anil Deshmukh who was arrested in a money laundering caseThe Supreme Court had on Monday directed the high court to decide Deshmukhs bail plea expeditiously as it was pending since March 2022Since then four judges of HC Justices Revati Mohite Dere P D Naik Bharati Dangre and P K Chavan have recused themselves from hearing the former ministers bail pleaOn Tuesday the bail plea was heard by a single bench of Justice N J JamadarDeshmukhs lawyers concluded their arguments and the court will hear the arguments of the Enforcement Directorates counsel on WednesdayThe former ministers counsel Vikram Chaudhari on Tuesday argued that this was not an openandshut case rather it was an opinionated oneChaudhari contended that the issues in this case lay in an extremely grey area and the trial was going to be a long processAlso Read Supreme Court directs Bombay HC to hear and decide bail plea of Anil Deshmukh expeditiouslyLike I said it is not an open and shut case there is more than what meets the eye The Court must consider this bail from a holistic angle and the applicant has no past antecedents why should he suffer even a day more in jail Chaudhari arguedHe further informed the court that Deshmukh was 72 years old and has been suffering from various ailments including lung and spinal disorders and that the same was taking a toll on himChaudhari cited that Deshmukh does not have past criminal antecedents and had been in custody for nearly 11 months and he should not suffer one more day in jail as there are zero proceeds of crime against himDeshmukh is currently in judicial custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate ED in November last year in a money laundering caseThe EDs case of money laundering against Deshmukh the former home minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government and others came after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of extortion made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir SinghThe ED has claimed that Deshmukh misused his official position and collected Rs 470 crore from various bars in MumbaiThe money was laundered to Nagpurbased Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family the probe agency has allegedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever