The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) challenge to the bail granted by the Bombay High Court to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case.
A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli, at one point during the hearing, orally remarked that the allegations against Mr. Deshmukh "at best may constitute an offence of corruption… where is the element of money laundering?"
However, on the request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, the Bench observed in the order that remarks made by the High Court about the veracity of the evidence in the case would not influence the trial.
The Bench said Mr. Deshmukh was over 70 years of age with multiple ailments.
But Mr. Mehta took the court through statements made by Sachin Waze, a Mumbai Police officer, and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh that money had been collected from bar owners to be handed over to Mr. Deshmukh. The law officer argued the money was diverted to an organisation chaired by the former Minister through shell entities.
But the Bench questioned the credibility of Mr. Waze, asking whether he was an accused in a murder case who had turned approver in a money laundering case.
The court said the High Court had also pointed to an element of ambiguity about who the money collected from the bar owners was really meant for and whether such collection amounted to bribery and not money laundering.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said Mr. Waze and Mr. Singh had tried to implicate the Home Minister. There was no evidence except Mr. Waze's statement.
The case dates back to March 20, 2021, when Mr. Singh wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accusing Mr. Deshmukh of abusing his position and powers to seek illegal monetary benefits.
The High Court, on April 5, 2021, had directed a preliminary inquiry against Mr. Deshmukh by the CBI. Soon thereafter, the ED stepped in and started conducting a probe into allegations of money laundering against him.
