Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut has been released from the Arthur Road jail after a Mumbai court granted him bail in Patra Chawl land scam case earlier today. In the video, the Rajya Sabha MP could be seen waving at his supporters.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant urgent stay on the bail granted to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in the Patra Chawl scam case. However, the HC is now set to hear the plea on Thursday.
Notably, Raut and another accused Pravin Raut were granted bail by the special court earlier on Wednesday which refused an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking the court to stay the order till Friday. The ED had then moved the Bombay High Court seeking an interim stay on the release order.
A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati Dangre refused to grant an urgent stay and noted that it cannot pass such an order when bail is granted, without first hearing both parties. However, the bench said it would hear the ED's plea seeking cancellation of the bail granted on Thursday
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The case pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl and related financial transactions involving Sanjay Raut's wife and associates. Siddharth Nagar, popularly known as Patra Chawl in Goregaon, is spread over 47 acres and houses 672 tenant families.
In 2008, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) had assigned a redevelopment contract for the Chawl to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL), a sister company of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).
The GACPL was supposed to build 672 flats for tenants and give some flats to MHADA.
However, the tenants did not get a single flat in the last 14 years as the company did not redevelop the Patra Chawl and sold land parcels and Floor Space Index (FSI) to other builders for Rs 1,034 crore, as per the ED.