Money Laundering Case: Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh Denied Bail

Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 1 last year. Anil Deshmukh is currently lodged in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh (PTI File)

New Delhi: A special PMLA court in Mumbai rejected the bail application of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case, PTI reported.

Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 1 last year. Anil Deshmukh is currently lodged in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

"There is enough evidence to prima facie hold that he was involved in the money laundering case," said special judge RN Rokade. "There are contradictions in the witness statements, but that cannot be considered at this stage (of bail plea)," he said.

Earlier, the special court had rejected his plea for default bail, filed on technical ground.

In the regular plea filed in January this year, Deshmukh contended that he was a victim of "gross persecution" by probe agencies. The former minister had said "harassment was being meted out to him at the hands of certain unscrupulous vested interests for blatantly malafide considerations". 

The allegation against Deshmukh is that he had ordered certain policemen like Sachin Waze, a Mumbai police officer now sacked in Antilia security breach case, to extort money from various bars and restaurants as protection money. The ED has alleged that Deshmukh collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai.

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The money laundering case was registered by the ED after allegations of corruption against him were levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, after he was removed from Mumbai Police Commissioner's post, Param Bir Singh had alleged Deshmukh allegedly asked Sachin Waze to allegedly extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai.

In December last year, the ED filed a supplementary chargesheet against Anil Deshmukh and also named his two sons, Hrishikesh and Salil, in connection with the money laundering case.

The ED allaged that the money was laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family.

The ED had also filed a chargesheet against 14 accused, including Deshmukh's private secretary (an additional collector-rank officer) Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde.

Anil Deshmukh, who resigned from the post of state home minister earlier this year, has repeatedly denied the charges against him.