ED moves HC to intervene in govt FIR against Parab

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday moved the Bombay high court to intervene in the petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab, who sought quashing of the FIR registered by the state government in the Dapoli Resorts case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday moved the Bombay high court to intervene in the petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab, who sought quashing of the FIR registered by the state government in the Dapoli Resorts case. A bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Shyam Chandak accepted the ED’s request and scheduled the matter for hearing on January 22, 2024. The high court on Tuesday also extended Parab’s interim protection from arrest or ‘coercive action’ in the Dapoli resorts case till the next date of hearing.

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The state government’s FIR, based on a complaint by Kirit Somaiya, claimed Parab falsified gram panchayat records for constructing a resort in the no-development zone, in violation of coastal regulation zone norms. Subsequently, the ED also filed a case against Parab based on the same report.

According to the ED, Parab, with the assistance of Sadanad Kadam, a businessman, purchased land in Dapoli and pressured local authorities to convert the status of the land from ‘agricultural’ to ‘non-agricultural’ to facilitate the construction of Sai Resorts. Parab was accused of not only violating provisions of the Environmental Protection Act but also causing losses to the government exchequer. As the construction is inherently illegal, it represents proceeds of crime, the ED alleged.

The ED arrested Kadam in relation with the case in March 2022. After the dismissal of bail applications by a special court in Mumbai, Kadam approached the Bombay high court for bail. A bench of justice MS Karnik will pronounce the order on the bail application on December 6.