Maharashtra sadan case: Court refuses to drop PMLA proceedings against Chhagan Bhujbal’s son, nephew

A special court in Mumbai rejected the pleas of Pankaj Bhujbal and Sameer Bhujbal to drop money laundering proceedings against them. The court stated that there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure to drop the proceedings as requested in the plea. The Bhujbals were charged by the Enforcement Directorate in 2016 for their involvement in the Maharashtra Sadan scam.

MUMBAI: A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Friday rejected the pleas of Pankaj Bhujbal, son of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister Chhagan Bhujbal, and his cousin Sameer, seeking to “drop” the money laundering proceedings initiated against them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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Rejecting the plea, special court judge RN Rokade said, “There is no such provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to drop the proceedings as requested in the plea.”

The court observed that the judgements relied upon in the plea are related to the quashing of charges by the High Court and that the special court only has the power to discharge and not quash the charges. However, the council refused to amend the prayer to discharge when offered by the court during the hearing.

Sameer, Pankaj and 51 others were charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2016 under the PMLA for various matters, including the Maharashtra Sadan scam, which was unveiled when the state government allegedly favoured a firm while giving out a contract to build a new Maharashtra Sadan building in Delhi and earned in the due process.

Sameer and Pankaj were alleged beneficiaries of the acquired kickbacks, considering that they were on the board of directors of companies involved in the scam, facing allegations of around ₹1,100 crore.

The plea application, presented through the advocates Vijay Agarwal and Sudarshan Khawase, contended that, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s recent directions, since Sameer and Pankaj have been “absolved of the scheduled offence,” the ED and special court cannot pursue legal action against them under the PMLA.

The court further observed that though the plea for dropping of PMLA proceedings has been rejected, the discharge order of the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in the Maharashtra Sadan Case has attained finality because the State of Maharashtra did not file an appeal against it.