Pune land deal case: High court grants temporary protection from arrest to NCP’s Eknath Khadse

NCP leader Eknath Khadse has approached the high court for anticipatory bail after a special court had issued a process against him, his wife, son-in-law and two others last month, in light of the charge sheet filed by the ED in the Pune land deal case

In a relief to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse, the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted him one week of protection from arrest in the money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Pune land deal case.

In a relief to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse, the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted him one week of protection from arrest in the Pune land deal case.

Khadse has approached HC for anticipatory bail after a special court had issued a process against him, his wife, son-in-law and two others last month, in light of the charge sheet filed by the ED.

Khadse’s counsel, senior advocate Shirish Gupte, pointed out that the NCP leader had undergone numerous medical procedures and he should be granted interim protection from arrest so that he may apply for regular bail before the special court. Gupte also informed the single-judge bench of justice Nitin Sambre that the application was moved after the special judge had made observations against his client last month.

Additional solicitor general Anil Singh for ED, however, objected to the application by Khadse and said that he should have applied for regular bail before approaching the HC. Gupte responded that there was no bar against filing an anticipatory bail application in HC.

Justice Sambre granted Khadse protection from arrest for a week, to enable him to apply for regular bail. HC has restrained the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court from taking Khadse in custody and also directed it to decide his regular bail plea expeditiously.

ED has also named Khadse’s wife Mandakini, son-in-law Girish Chaudhari and two others as accused in the money-laundering case. It is alleged that in 2016, Khadse misused his position as revenue minister to benefit his family in the land deal and caused a loss of crores of rupees to the state exchequer.