The Enforcement Directorate has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh’s bail in a money laundering case.
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, raised the issue as urgent. Following the filing of the petition, Chief Justice of India Justice Uday Umesh Lalit directed the Solicitor General to mention the matter at 2 p.m.
Last week, the Bombay High Court granted bail to the NCP leader in the case filed by the central investigation agency. While Deshmukh was granted bail in the ED case, he was still being held in custody in connection with the CBI case, which was filed against him in April of last year.
Earlier in the hearing, the 72-year-old told the high court that the case against him was founded on “presumed facts.” While the original allegation was that he collected 100 crore, the agency was only able to track the money trail of 1.70 crore.
The statements of several accused, which were recorded by the probe agency, were dubious, particularly that of former Mumbai top cop Sachin Waze, who claimed to be acting on behalf of “number one,” who was assumed to be him.
Deshmukh was arrested in November last year in a money-laundering case filed by the ED.
During his bail proceedings, he also petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming that the delay in hearing his bail application was causing him prejudice. Following this, the Supreme Court directed the high court to hear his application as soon as possible.