The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to pass any order granting interim protection from coercive action to Shiv Sena leader and former MP Anandrao Adsul in connection with an alleged ₹980 crore fraud at the City Co-operative Bank.
Mr. Adsul had moved HC this week challenging the case and the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) directing him to appear before it for questioning.
Mr. Adsul's counsel Abhinav Chandrachud told a division bench of Justice S.S. Shinde and Justice N.J. Jamadar that proceedings initiated by ED were at the instance of political rivals with the support of the ruling party at the Centre.
"Proceedings initiated by ED against Mr. Adsul clearly smack of political vendetta being settled through enforcement agencies, which are armed with powers of civil court during investigation and have been elevated to the status of court," Mr. Adsul said in his plea.
Mr. Chandrachud told the court the proceedings before the ED had been initiated based on the complaint of Ravi Rana, husband of Amravati Lok Sabha MP Navneet Kaur.
He added that Mr. Adsul had filed a petition against Ms. Kaur's caste certificate, and the HC had, earlier this year, cancelled the caste certificate.
Mr. Chandrachud argued that Mr. Rana had complained as retaliation to Mr. Adsul challenging the validity of Ms. Kaur's caste certificate.
He further told the court Mr. Adsul was the original complainant in the case registered by the city police's Economic Offences Wing in the alleged bank fraud case.
Opposing the relief sought, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for ED, asked the court to consider Mr. Adsul's conduct when the summons were issued to him.
"When ED went to serve the summons, he (Mr. Adsul) created a scene. Got himself an ambulance and went to a hospital. There he was found to be fine, so he went to another hospital and got himself admitted. This conduct has to be looked into," Mr. Singh argued.
He further argued that a person may or not be an accused in a case but the ED has to question every party involved to trace the proceeds of crime in a money laundering case.
The court, after hearing the matter briefly, said it was not inclined to pass any order granting relief to the petitioner at this stage.
"It is not uncommon for informant to become accused. We are not inclined to grant any relief today," the bench said, and posted the matter for further hearing on October 8.
The ED case against Mr. Adsul pertains to alleged irregularities of ₹980 crore in the City Cooperative Bank, of which he was former chairman.
The money laundering case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) of Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) into the alleged irregularities in disbursement of loan funds and other financial transactions of the bank.
