ED suppressed vital information in land case, Nawab Malik tells court

Desai on Monday cited the documents received by them through Right to Information in March this year

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik’s lawyer on Monday accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of suppressing a vital document, stating that the power of attorney, which is at the centre of the money laundering case, was actually authenticated by owner Munira Plumber, the owner of the property, before the sub-registrar at Andheri in 1999.

(Hindustan Times)

Arguing Malik’s bail plea, senior advocate Amit Desai on Tuesday said the power of attorney, which was used by Sardar Shahvali Khan to sell the property to Nawab Malik, was not forged but was authenticated by Plumber herself before the sub-registrar.

Desai on Monday cited the documents received by them through Right to Information in March this year, before the ED submitted the final charge sheet or prosecution complaint before the special court against Malik.

Desai pointed out that when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and later ED began the probe, they had approached the sub-registrar to check if the power of attorney was registered under the number mentioned on the document. The department informed them that no such document was registered by the two – Plumber and Khan.

However, when Malik’s employee approached the department and sought information under the RTI, they were given details of the document and the entry in the books of recording corresponding to it. He also later sought correspondence exchanged by the department with probe agencies.

It was pointed out that, as per the information received under RTI, the Registrar had on March 15 provided the details of the documents to Malik and at the same time informed NIA and ED about the fact that the power of attorney was authenticated.

Desai said the investigating agencies were well informed about the power of attorney being authenticated under due process and alleged that the ED should have produced the entire document and its status before the court, but it has been suppressed.

Referring to the documents received under RTI, Desai said, “she (Plumber) visited the office and authenticated the copy of the supplementary power of attorney of July 23 1999.”

Desai also questioned the method of valuation adopted by ED and argued that the properties were sold based on the said power of attorney and stamp duty was paid by the parties based on the valuation done by the officials.

He asked how the due process followed in 1999, can be ignored after 23 years just because “Plumber doesn’t remember anything now.” Desai will continue his arguments on Wednesday.

The 63-year-old NCP leader was arrested on February 23, in connection with a money-laundering case registered against fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his close associates like Shakeel Shaikh Babu Moiuddin aka Chhota Shakeel, Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razzaq Memon aka Tigar Memon.

The ED claimed that Malik conspired with Dawood’s sister Hasina Parkar (now deceased) to usurp Goawala Compound in Kurla – a property worth ₹300 crore at the current price - using a fabricated power of attorney.

Malik has denied the charges and claimed that the transactions made by him were genuine and backed by proper documentation.