[BREAKING] Bombay High Court grants bail to Anil Deshmukh in money laundering case

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Maharashtra Home Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh in the money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)..The bail order will be effective from October 13 to enable ED to file appeal before Supreme Court, the High Court directed.Justice NJ Jamadar pronounced the order at 2.30 pm on Tuesday."In the context of the allegation of money laundering, in the case at hand, it has to be seen whether there is material to show that the amounts alleged partakes the character of ‘proceeds of crime’. …Satisfaction regarding the Applicant not committing the offence, while on bail, can be legitimately arrived at on the basis of the fact that there are no antecedents to the credit of the applicant”, the judge observed.Deshmukh will, however, continue to be lodged in judicial custody in Arthur Road prison since he is also being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in corruption case. .Deshmukh and his associates are being investigated for alleged corruption between 2019 and 2021. Based on findings of a preliminary investigation into a complaint of advocate Dr. Jaishri Patil, the CBI booked Deshmukh and unknown others. The inquiry was launched after the Bombay High Court issued a direction to that effect on April 5, 2021, in response to a petition filed by Param Bir Singh, former Commissioner of Mumbai Police.Based on this FIR of CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated a case of money laundering offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Deshmukh and arrested him in November 2021. He was remanded to ED custody that was extended till November 15 by the High Court. Thereafter he was remanded to judicial custody where he remains till date.Deshmukh was later apprehended by the CBI in the first week of April this year. He was detained by the CBI until April 16 before being remanded to judicial custody..Deshmukh filed for regular bail before the High Court in March 2022 after a special PMLA Court rejected his bail plea. In April 2022, ED filed its reply claiming Deshmukh had not been able to explain the source of huge wealth and proceeds of crime.During the 8 month pendency, Justices Revati Mohite Dere, PD Naik, Bharati Dangre and Prithviraj K Chavan of Bombay High Court recused themselves from hearing the former minister's bail application.The High Court resumed hearing the bail plea on September 27 a day after Supreme Court directed the High Court to take up the matter this week and dispose it of expeditiously.On September 28, after hearing both sides extensively, the Court reserved the plea for orders. .Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari with Advocate Aniket Nikam appeared for Deshmukh. Team of Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh with Advocates Aditya Thakker, Shreeram Shirsat and Amandeep Sra appeared for the central agency..Read Deshmukh's arguments here and ED's arguments here..[Read order]