Will appear before ED, but…’: Former Maharashtra home minister on PMLA case

The ED had issued summons to Anil Deshmukh in connection with a criminal case related to an alleged ₹100 crore bribery and extortion racket.

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Thursday said he would appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had summoned him in connection with its probe into a money laundering case, "after the legal process is completed".

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said the Supreme Court allowed him to move a lower court to seek legal remedy. (File photo)

The NCP leader skipped a summon issued by the ED. Deshmukh claimed that the Supreme Court accepted his plea on the ED and said that it would be heard soon. The top court had on Monday refused to grant interim relief to Deshmukh, even as he was seeking protection from any ‘coercive action’ in connection with the money laundering case.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said Desmukh is at liberty to access remedies available to him under the law, after he filed a batch of petitions against a few charges of ED.

Deshmukh said the apex court allowed him to move a lower court to seek legal remedy. "The legal process has begun and I will appear before the ED after they are completed. I will cooperate with the ED. I have always followed high standards in my entire social-political life," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The ED had earlier issued summons to Deshmukh in connection with a criminal case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) related to an alleged ₹100 crore bribery and extortion racket, which forced the 71-year-old to step as Maharashtra’s home minister in April.

Deshmukh skipped appearing before the ED for the fifth time on Wednesday and had stated that he was taking recourse to "lawful remedies" for the protection of his liberty. According to PTI, he had a three-page reply to the investigating officer of the case. He said the Supreme Court made it available for him to take recourse to remedies available under the CrPC, including filing of a quashing petition.

The NCP leader requested the agency to record his statement through an electronic medium, till the time any court passes “appropriate orders.”

The ED lodged the case against Deshmukh and others following the Central Bureau of Investigation filing a corruption case over the alleged bribery charges, made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

After he was ousted as the police chief, Singh had written to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had asked suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze to “extort over ₹100 crore a month from bars and restaurants” in Mumbai. Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.