Money laundering case: Bombay HC reserves judgment on Anil Deshmukh's bail plea

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on the bail plea of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh arrested by the Enforcement Directorate ED in a money laundering caseA singlejudge bench of Justice N J Jamadar closed the plea for orders after Additional Solicitor General ASG Anil Singh appearing for ED completed his arguments against the bail pleaThe judge stated the court will try to deliver a judgement as soon as possibleThe HC began hearing the bail plea on Tuesday following directions from the Supreme Court to hear and decide the same expeditiously as it was pending for the last six monthsReferring to Deshmukhs move to approach the apex court whenever there is a delay in the bail plea hearing Justice Jamadar told the NCP leaders counsel Vikram Chaudhari that the plea could have been mentioned for early hearing hereAlso Read BJP leaders Kirit Somaiya Nitesh Rane thank PM Modi for imposing ban on PFIChaudhari explained that their grievance was not against the high court but against ED officers who sought long adjournmentsOpposing the bail plea ASG Singh claimed that Deshmukh was accused of serious offences of corruption the misuse of official position and money launderingThe economic offence is serious and it affects the financial strength of the country So the court will have to say that the accused is not at all involved Singh saidRefuting the demand of Deshmukhs advocates that he should have been released on bail considering his medical conditions and age Singh said the former minister did not suffer from any ailment that cannot be treated at the prison hospitalIt is not his case that as and when required we have not taken him to hospital Nowadays everyone has agerelated problems and there are many such inmates in jail but the court will have to consider if that can be a ground for bail Singh saidChaudhari argued that the EDs probe in the case was neverendingWhenever someone points to gaps in their case they fill up the gaps by recording statements he saidAfter hearing arguments from both sides Justice Jamadar said Will close it and will try to deliver judgement as soon as possibleDeshmukh is currently in judicial custody following his arrest by the ED last November in a money laundering caseThe federal antimoney laundering agency registered the case against Deshmukh and others after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to the allegations of extortion levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir SinghThe ED claimed that Deshmukh misused his official position as the home minister 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 it 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