SC refuses interim protection to ex-Maharashtra HM Anil Deshmukh in money laundering case

On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to grant any interim protection for coercive action to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The Apex Court bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar granted Deshmukh liberty to seek the remedies available to him under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari arguing for Deshmukh told the court that this case is nothing more than a "witch hunt" against his client. 

"They arrested my private secretary and personal assistant. When it comes to interim orders, there has to be consistency. I stand on equal footing with all the other matters," Chaudhari argued. 

The ED has claimed that the petition is premature and liable to be dismissed in response before the court. It further stated that the challenge to the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) is purely academic and has nothing to do with the reliefs being granted to any accused person. 

The ED further informed the court that Deshmukh, by virtue of his previous position as Home Minister of Maharashtra Govt. has received amounts to the tune of approx. Rs 4.70 Crore, collected from the Orchestra Bar owners/managers for smooth functioning of bars and the said bribe money was used by him though his son Hrishikesh Deshmukh for providing cash to Delhi based paper companies and after layering the same was routed to the Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha Trust in the garb of donation, a Trust formed, managed and controlled by Anil Deshmukh and his family members. 

'Deshmukh family involved in money laundering'

It also stated that the investigation conducted so far revealed that with the help of closed associates, the Deshmukh family was indirectly controlling/managing the business activities in various companies and laundering the money by creating a complex web of transactions.

"It is important to mention here that the capital so created, was used for starting warehousing business through companies owned by Shri Hrishikesh Deshmukh, son of Shri Anil Deshmukh, the then Home Minister of Maharashtra. Later on, the fund generated from the warehousing business was routed through a number of companies," the ED said. 

"Provisional attachment of assets worth 4.20 Crore of Shri Anil Deshmukh & his family held in the name of his wife Aarti Deshmukh and company Premier Port Links Private Limited was done on 16.07.2021. The attached assets are in the form of one residential Flat, valued at 1.54 Crore, located at Worli, Mumbai, and 25 parcels of vacant land (admeasuring total approx. 15 Acre area), of book value 2.67 Crore (at the time of acquisition), in Uran, Raigarh District of Maharashtra," the response read.

Extortion allegations against Anil Deshmukh

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of directing Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore per month from Mumbai bars, hotels, and restaurants. He alleged that Deshmukh had set a monthly collection target of Rs 40-50 crores from such establishments while the rest could be 'collected from other sources. Anil Deshmukh and NCP, however, refuted all extortion allegations saying that Param Bir Singh was trying to save himself from the Mansukh Hiren death case, which is linked to the Antilia Bomb scare case.

Deshmukh had resigned as Home Minister on April 5 after the Bombay High Court's verdict to conduct a CBI inquiry on the extortion racket in Maharashtra. The Enforcement Directorate is also probing the case. It has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Anil Deshmukh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, for allegedly obtaining illegal gratification, based on the CBI's corruption case. Deshmukh sought quashing of the FIR, but the High Court dismissed his plea.

Image Credit: PTI