Bhujbal, nephew get bail in Maharashtra Sadan scam case

The special ACB court on Wednesday granted bail to NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case

The special anti-corruption bureau (ACB) court on Wednesday granted bail to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case. They will, however, continue to be in jail because they have been booked in a enforcement directorate (ED) case, in which the Bombay high court rejected his bail.

The ACB court had on last occasion issued a production warrant against the two in the case. The jail authorities had on Wednesday produced the duo where they were formally arrested and later granted bail.

The court had last month taken the cognisance and issued summons to all the 17 accused, of which one has died.

As Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer have been lodged at Arther Road Jail in connection with a money laundering case, the summons were returned and the court issued a warrant to produce the duo before the court.

The ACB alleged the senior NCP leader misused his official position to ensure gains to the contractor, which caused a huge loss to the state exchequer. The ACB, in its charge sheet has cited government norms that clearly state a contractor should not earn profit exceeding 20% for the project he has been allotted. However, the agency alleged that in this case, the contractor earned 81.9% profit.