The money trail of alleged kickbacks received by the former Maharashtra Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, and his family members in return for construction contracts has been traced to Singapore and the network of companies through which money was allegedly routed is spread over several locations, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
“All the allegations and complaints have to be looked into comprehensively and in totality — the source and origin of money, the layering of money and the end user. An LR [letter rogatory] would have to be sent. Some money has gone to Singapore,” acting Advocate-General Anil Singh, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), told a Division Bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice A.K. Menon.
Mr. Singh said there was voluminous material on several property transactions, some of which had overseas links, whereas some companies involved were traced to Kolkata and other places. The investigators were awaiting records from the Sales Tax department.
The High Court on Thursday directed the Special Investigation Team of ED and ACB officials to submit a final report by August 19 on the allegations of money laundering against Mr. Bhujbal and his kin in connection with a series of projects, including Maharashtra Sadan, Mumbai University library, national highway and other development and housing projects.
On Thursday, the ACB submitted an interim inquiry report to the court dated June 12. The investigators will submit another interim report into some of the allegations by July 20. The next hearing is on July 22.
FIRs filed The ACB has filed two FIRs against Mr. Bhujbal and his family members in connection with the library and Maharashtra Sadan cases on June 8 and June 11 respectively. The Taloja police station in Navi Mumbai has also filed another FIR against the former Minister’s son and nephew Pankaj and Sameer Bhujbal pertaining to a housing project, Mr. Singh told the court.
In addition, the ED has filed two Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) against Mr. Bhujbal and his family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court was hearing a PIL by the Aam Aadmi Party which alleged that Mr. Bhujbal’s family members received kickbacks for awarding construction contracts. Advocate Anil Anturkar accused the SIT of dragging its feet.
This article was corrected for a factual error.
