SC Rejects Maha Minister Nawab Malik’s Plea To Release Him From Jail

Mumbai: Supreme Court has rejected Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik’s plea seeking his release from jail in connection with a money laundering case registered against him.

“It is a very early stage to intervene in the investigation. We cannot interfere with the due process at this stage. You (should) move the competent court,” the apex court said in its remarks.

NCP leader was arrested in February in a case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim. Earlier, the Bombay High Court had rejected the minister’s application to release him from jail.

The ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in Maharashtra – attacking the BJP – is claiming that the arrest of the NCP leader in the investigation by the central probe agency was “vendetta politics”.

Earlier on Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate, which probes financial crimes, submitted a 5,000-page charge sheet in a Mumbai court.

News agency PTI quoted the probe agency’s lawyers as saying that the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases will take cognizance of the charge sheet after verification of documents.

The case is based on an FIR registered recently by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Dawood Ibrahim and his associates under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The ED has alleged that Malik provided funds to a prominent member of the ‘D-Gang’ (Dawood gang) for illegal possession of the property.

Last week, the ED temporarily attached eight properties of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and his family members.

According to the agency, the attached properties belonged to Malik, his family members and family-owned firms Solidus Investments and Malik Infrastructure.

The properties include Goawala Compound, a commercial unit and three flats in Kurla West, two more flats in Bandra West and 147 acres of agricultural land in the Osmanabad district.

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