Bombay HC directs ED to reply to Sanjeev Palande’s plea for quashing ECIR

Palande contended before the Bombay HC that the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) under which he was arrested on June 26 were violative of his rights guaranteed by the Constitution and were ultra vires, hence should be quashed and set aside.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to the petition filed by Sanjeev Palande, personal secretary of former home minister Anil Deshmukh, for quashing of the enforcement case registered against him.

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande. (HT FILE)

Palande contended that the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) under which he was arrested on June 26 were violative of his rights guaranteed by the Constitution and were ultra vires, hence should be quashed and set aside.

Palande, who was arrested by the ED in connection with the first information report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its probe in corruption charges against Deshmukh, has claimed that the enforcement case information report (ECIR) was based solely on the statement of former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze, who was dismissed from service after his involvement in the Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases came to light, and hence could not be relied upon.

When Palande’s petition came up for hearing before the division bench of justice SS Shinde and justice NJ Jamadar, additional solicitor general Anil Singh for ED sought time to file reply to the petition as it challenged the constitutional validity of various section of PMLA.

In his petition, Palande said he was appointed as Deshmukh’s personal secretary in 2020 and had been coordinating various activities of the then home minister with other departments and home department as well as scheduling meetings for him. Referring to the meeting at the home minister’s official residence wherein the issue of action being taken against hookah parlours and dance bars was allegedly discussed, the petition stated that the same was done as the home minister was expected to respond to a question in the Legislative assembly on the subject.

The petition stated that after Vaze was arrested and former Mumbai Police Param Bir Singh filed a public interest litigation in the HC on March 24, CBI filed a first information report (FIR) on April 21. The petition states that on June 25, ED prepared an ECIR and conducted raids at the residence of Deshmukh at Nagpur and Mumbai and thereafter searched the houses of Palande as well as Kundan Shinde, personal assistant of Deshmukh, on the same day.

Palande said he was issued summons under section 50 of PMLA and asked to accompany ED officers to their offices, which he complied to. The petition stated that he was interrogated for a long time and asked to make self-incriminating statements, and that he was arrested when he refused to do the same. Palande claimed he was only shown the ECIR and was informed of the grounds of arrest but was not given a copy of the same.

The petition pointed out that as the PMLA sections invoked in the case were arbitrary and violative of the rights of an individual, the same were ultra vires of article 21 of the Constitution, and hence should be quashed and set aside. The petition also claimed that the practice of not providing ECIR was arbitrary and hence the same should be quashed.

The court has allowed ED to file a response within two weeks and posted next hearing to September 28.