Money Laundering Case: Bombay HC Reserves Order On Nawab Malik's Plea Seeking Release

Nawab Malik had appealed with the court to pass an interim order for his release after he was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month.

NCP leader Nawab Malik | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: The Bombay High Court Friday reserved its order on Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik's plea seeking release from custody. 

A Bench of Justices P B Varale and S M Modak reserved its order for Tuesday.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, had appealed with the court to pass an interim order for his release from custody after he was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month.

Malik in his plea has argued that the property in question was bought by him in a bonafide transaction more than two decades ago, and he is being held in custody by ED for no fault of his.

The ED for a long time was keeping a watch on Nawab Malik's alleged links with aides of Dawood Ibrahim. And after establishing money trail links between Malik and people connected to the underworld gangster, ED arrested the NCP leader.

On February 23 Malik was picked up by the ED from his residence in Mumbai and interrogated for about 8 hours. He was then produced before a PMLA court that remanded him to 8-day ED custody, which was extended by four more days. Malik is now remanded to judicial custody till March 21. 

In February, the ED had conducted raids at 10 locations including premises linked to Dawood Ibrahim's late sister Haseena Parkar, brother Iqbal Kaskar and Salim Qureshi. Properties of gangster Chhota Shakeel's brother-in-law was also raided.

Malik was under ED lens over alleged links to some property deals with 1993 Mumbai blasts convicts, including mastermind Dawood Ibrahim.