Money laundering case: court grants Pankaj Bhujbal relief from arrest
The special PMLA court on Saturday granted relief from arrest to Pankaj Bhujbal — son of former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal — on Saturday in the money laundering case being probed by the enforcement directorate (ED).
The special PMLA court on Saturday granted relief from arrest to Pankaj Bhujbal — son of former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal — on Saturday in the money laundering case being probed by the enforcement directorate (ED).
“Pankaj had withdrawn his plea for anticipatory bail from the Bombay high court and chose to appear before the special PMLA court. We filed a plea seeking for bail on personal bond against the non-bailable warrant issued by the special court while taking cognizance of the case filed by ED. The court has allowed our plea and released him on personal bond of Rs2 lakh,” said Bhujbal’s lawyer Shalabh Saxena.
The special PMLA court had in April last year issued a non-bailable warrant against Pankaj and other accused in the case after taking cognizance of the complaint filed by the ED. It has, in its complaint running into more than 11000 pages, alleged that from 2006 onwards, the Bhujbals and their associates laundered money to the tune of Rs4,264.25 crore. The complaint further alleges that Chhagan laundered around Rs 291.71 crore, while Sameer and Pankaj had laundered Rs359.30 crore each.
The agency has alleged that Chhagan was the mastermind of the scam, which dates back to as early as 1998 when he was the deputy chief minister. ‘He devised the entire methodology to defraud the state government by conceptualising and implementing a scheme where the Maharashtra Sadan / RTO project was awarded to M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises by misusing his official position and authority,’ read the ED complaint.
Also read: Chhagan Bhujbal back in Arthur Road jail after receiving treatment in hospitals from Nov 2