Bombay HC Sends Ex-Maharashtra HM Anil Deshmukh to ED Custody Till 12 November

The Bombay HC on Sunday set aside a sessions court order remanding Anil Deshmukh to 14-day judicial custody.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on the intervening night of Monday (1 November) and Tuesday (2 November), after more than 12 hours of questioning. Image used for representation purpose.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Bombay High Court on Sunday, 7 November, set aside a sessions court order remanding former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to 14 day judicial custody in the money laundering case, LiveLaw reported.

The court on Sunday instead granted the Enforcement Directorate Deshmukh's custody till 12 November.

On Saturday, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai had remanded Deshmukh to judicial custody for 14 days in the case.

The ED, which had arrested the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on 2 November, had requested to extend Deshmukh's custody with the agency for interrogation purposes.

In the PMLA court, the ED had argued that Deshmukh had refused to cooperate with the investigation, and that it needed more time to interrogate him. However, the request was denied and Deshmukh was instead sent to judicial custody.

ED Moves Bombay HC Against Order

Post this, the ED moved Bombay HC on Saturday night challenging the special court's order, reported The Indian Express.

According to the report, in its plea in the HC, the ED called the order passed by the special court "bad in law and against the principles of natural justice", adding that the judge should have understood that an investigation such as this could not be expected to be completed within a short span of time.

"A sufficient opportunity needs to be given to the investigating agency to probe into entire gamut of the case so that the investigating agency can collect sufficient quality evidence which will help the agency to go to the root of the matter," the plea went on to state.

The ED had sought urgent hearing and said that if ED custody of Deshmukh were not granted, it may hamper further investigation.

(With inputs from LiveLaw and The Indian Express.)