A special court in Mumbai on Thursday, 4 August, extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of arrested Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut till 8 August.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena leader told the court that he was held in custody in a room that had no windows or ventilation.
Special public prosecutor Hiten Venegaokar, who appeared on behalf of the ED, said Raut was kept in an AC room and hence there was no window. Raut later said that although the AC system is in place there, he cannot use it due to his health condition.
The ED then assured the court that he would be kept in a room with proper ventilation.
Raut was arrested by the ED in the early hours of Monday, 1 August, in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam case. The probe agency had then been granted custody of Raut under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by Justice MG Deshpande till Thursday.
Reacting to the development, Raut's brother Sunil Raut said that they have faith in the judiciary.
"We have faith in judiciary. Today, the court has ordered to send him to ED custody till 8th August. Sanjay Raut is a true Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb Thackeray, he will never do any corruption. BJP is scared of him," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Raut had been taken into custody by the ED after the agency conducted a day-long raid at his residence on Sunday. The agency officials also said that they seized Rs 11.5 lakh in cash during the search.
The Patra Chawl Case
The case in which Raut has been arrested concerns the crucial Patra Chawl Development Project that has been underway in Maharashtra for over a decade.
The ED has alleged a scam of a whopping Rs 1039.79 crore in the project, and part of the mammoth account was traced back to properties owned by Sanjay Raut's wife, Varsha Raut.
In 2007, the Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was awarded the project of redevelopment of Patra Chawl. The developer had to provide flats to 672 tenants and develop flats for the MHADA. Thereafter, the remaining area was to be sold by the developer.
"The directors of Guru Ashish Constructions mislead MHADA and managed to sell the FSI (floor space index) to nine developers and collected about Rs 901.79 crore without constructing the rehab portion for 672 displaced tenants and MHADA portion," the ED has alleged.
The ED further said in its statement that the construction company acquired an amount of Rs 138 crore from flat buyers under a project named Meadows.
An official statement by the agency alleged that during 2010, part of the proceeds of the alleged money laundering, amounting to Rs 83 lakh, was received by Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha.
This amount was utilised by Varsha Raut for the purchase of a flat in Dadar. Further, eight plots of land at the Kihim beach in Alibaug were also purchased under the names of Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, the wife of Sujit Patkar, who is a close associate of Sanjay Raut.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)