A special court will pronounce its order on March 9 on the bail plea filed by former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case. “He is a victim of gross persecution and harassment meted out to him at the hands of certain unscrupulous vested interests for blatantly malafide considerations,” says his petition. Mr. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on November 1 after being questioned for 12 hours. He was sent to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till November 6. On December 29, ED filed a supplementary chargesheet against Mr. Deshmukh and his two sons. The case dates back to March 20, 2021 when former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accusing Mr. Deshmukh of abusing his position and powers to seek illegal monetary benefits. The letter cited instances of Mr. Deshmukh directing suspended police officer Sachin Vaze and others to collect ₹100 crores from bars and restaurants over a month. Soon thereafter, the High Court ordered a preliminary enquiry by the CBI against Mr. Deshmukh. The ED then stepped in and started conducting a probe into allegations of money laundering against Mr. Deshmukh. On April 21, an FIR was registered against Mr. Deshmukh under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the ED, 11 companies were directly controlled by family members of Mr. Deshmukh and another 13 companies in the names of close associates of Deshmukh family had also come to light. Bank account statements show that money was flowing from companies indirectly controlled by Mr. Deshmukh’s family members to companies directly controlled by his family members.
