Anil Deshmukh sent to ED custody till November 15 in PMLA case

A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court on Friday sent former Maharashtra home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till November 15

A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court on Friday sent former Maharashtra home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till November 15.

File photo: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. (HT photo)

Additional Sessions Judge HS Satbhai on Friday sent Deshmukh to ED custody.

The former home minister was arrested after more than 12 hours of grilling by the agency on November 2 in which the officials said he was evasive while answering them so they could arrest him and demand his custody.

Appearing for the agency on Friday, in the third remand application counsel Shriram Shirsath told the court, “That the agency had requested the court for recording the statement of dismissed police inspector Sachin Vaze who is one of the accused in the case. However, its application was rejected by the court as Vaze was presently in the Mumbai Crime branch’s custody till November 13 in an extortion case. However, as Vaze’s custody was ending on November 13 they can record Vaze’s statement after which it will require Deshmukh’s custody to confront with facts/evidence which may occur after recording a fresh statement of Vaze.”

The court was told that Vaze collected money from several bar owner’s on Deshmukh’s behest which was allegedly laundered.

Shirsath also told the court that in their investigations it further emerged that Deshmukh was involved in the transfer and postings of police officials in Maharashtra and Mumbai and so further statement of Deshmukh is yet to be recorded to unearth the truth.

The agency told the court that a private person from Deshmukh’s constituency has been summoned by the agency on November 13 and he was handling certain prestigious projects. The agency after recording the statement of the said person will require Deshmukh’s custody to confront him with the facts that emerge from that as well thereafter.

The ED, in its remand application asking for three more days of custody, told the court that Deshmukh has played a very crucial role in the offence of money laundering. He has not provided the required information regarding the laundering of proceeds of crime. The agency told the court that certain key persons have been called for questioning to confront with facts aroused during the recording of statements of Deshmukh and his custody will be required to confront with facts that may arise after ED’s questioning them.

Deshmukh, who appeared before the court in a white kurta and pants, told the court that he was in ED custody for the last ten days.

“I have been questioned every day for more than eight to ten hours and have answered more than 200 questions put by the agency to me.”

Deshmukh even submitted an application before the agency, retracting all his statements given to the agency.

Senior counsel Vikram Chaudhri, who argued for Deshmukh along with Aniket Nikam, told the court that this was the third remand application of Deshmukh.

“He was questioned for the full day on 1st of November and arrested late night on 2nd of November. A holiday court had given ED custody of Deshmukh till the 6th of November, later, the holiday Sessions court sent Deshmukh to judicial custody. However, the agency appeared before the Bombay High Court and after the consent of both parties, Deshmukh was sent to ED custody till November 12. Now, their application for further custody is not maintainable as with consent and after seeking instructions they had made a statement and demanded the custody before the highest court in the state.”

Chaudhri further told the court that Deshmukh had appeared before the agency voluntarily to prove his bonafide without applying for any anticipatory bail application and his petition was pending before the apex court. The agency had told specifically before the Bombay High court that Deshmukh was just a suspect and not an accused and they only needed some explanation from him.

The agency has not arrested accused number one Sachin Vaze, though it says he played a key role in the offence. “Only two people arrested in these offences are my personal assistant’s Kundan Shinde and Sanjeev Palande,” he said.

“The person who made the allegations, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, Where is he?” Chaudhri questioned.

He said the applicant who went to their office and was co-operating with the investigations was arrested by the agency.

“The country is passing through a phase where there is complete anarchy and chaos. The only saviour is the judiciary. Behind any dark order, there is a sacred order.”

Chaudhri asked the court why can’t the agency record statement or confront Deshmukh during judicial custody.

After hearing both sides, the court sent Deshmukh to ED custody for three days.

Earlier, NCP leader and daughter of NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, came to the Session’s Court and had a detailed discussion with the counsels of Deshmukh. Sule left the court premises after greeting Deshmukh.

Meanwhile, the anticipatory bail application (ABA) of Hrishikesh Deshmukh, the younger son of Anil Deshmukh, was adjourned by the court to November 20.

In its earlier remand application, the ED alleged, “Deshmukh has emerged an important cog in the wheels.” Deshmukh has emerged as the main beneficiary, he is required to be interrogated in custody. In its application seeking Deshmukh’s remand, the agency said a foreign angle cannot be ruled out.

The ED alleged that on Deshmukh’s instructions, Vaze had called a meeting of bar owners from Mumbai and demanded a monthly amount of ₹3 lakh from each of them.

In its charge sheet, the agency said that Vaze had collected ₹4.70 crore from various bar owners between December 2020 and February 2021 at Deshmukh’s behest. According to the agency, Vaze handed over the extorted money to Shinde and subsequently, a part of the amount was routed to the charitable trust in Nagpur through various shell companies.

The agency claimed that its investigation began after former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had directed Vaze to collect ₹100 crore every month from establishments in Mumbai. Singh approached the Bombay high court (HC) and filed a petition in the matter. Based on HC’s order, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initially conducted a preliminary enquiry and on April 21 registered an offence under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, after which ED started its investigation.