Enforcement Directorate seeks bail cancellation of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought bail cancellation of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, asserting that the special judge overseeing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case exceeded the case's scope.

On Tuesday, the ED's Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh presented this argument to the Bombay High Court bench headed by Justice Anuja Prabhudessai.

Raut was taken into custody on August 1, by the ED on suspicion of money laundering in connection with the Patra Chawl scam case being investigated by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offense Wing (EOW).

Singh emphasized that the special judge had investigated matters other than the PMLA offense, including the EOW's investigation into the predicate offense. He emphasized that the PMLA court was not informed of the EOW's chargesheet or the involvement of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
Additionally, he questioned the PMLA court's authority to check to see if the scheduled offense had been committed without the chargesheet and other supporting documents.

Singh further called attention to that Judge MG Deshpande mentioned objective facts in his request with respect to the Raut's purportedly unlawful capture, which hosted not been raised by any gathering. Singh argued that such observations and comments about the agency's behavior were irrelevant justifications for bail and should be removed.

He presented the EOW chargesheet to the court, which included claims of wrongful gain and the generation of proceeds from crime. After that, he presented the prosecution complaint filed by the ED, in which he claimed that the court had applied an incorrect bail-granting test and omitted relevant factors. Singh underlined that PMLA offenses are grave wrongdoings, tantamount to murder and psychological oppression.

The case involves MHADA, the Housing Board of Maharashtra, and a 47-acre parcel of land in the suburban Mumbai neighborhood of Pahadi Eksar. The Guru Ashish company was going to develop the land, and Pravin Raut, an alleged associate of Sanjay Raut, was going to be the director of the company.

Tenants would have access to free, newly constructed apartments as part of the project. However, it is alleged that the property's FSI was sold and the proceeds were allegedly laundered instead of meeting these obligations.

Singh brought up Pravin Raut's role, claiming that he bought a 25% stake in Guru Ashish without investing. The evidence presented by the ED refuted Pravin Raut's claim that he earned money from the sale of sweat equity.
Subsequent to hearing contentions, Equity Prabhudessai mentioned Singh to set up a short outline with every pertinent report. On Wednesday, the court will resume hearing the case.

 

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