Breaking: Special Court Refuses Temporary Bail To NCP's Nawab Malik & Anil Deshmukh For Voting In Rajya Sabha Elections Tomorrow

Special Judge RS Rokade passed the order after marathon arguments on Wednesday, by their respective counsels and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has opposed their pleas stating that prisoners have no voting rights under the Peoples Representation Act.

Both NCP leaders are in judicial custody in separate cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act. While Deshmukh is in Arthur Road prison, Malik has been admitted to the hospital.

On Wednesday, Senior Advocate Amit Desai for Malik told the court that he wasn't seeking permission in perpetuity to attend Vidhan Sabha, but only wanted permission to cast his vote with police escorts. Malik has a duty towards his constituency, Desai submitted.

"Courts frequently grant permission to prisoners to light the pyre when a parent dies or to give away a daughter in a wedding considering these as a duty. My ability to cast a vote fails, I am prejudiced, my party is prejudiced," Desai argued.

Senior Advocate Abad Ponda, representing Deshmukh, distinguished between categories of prisoners to state that under the Representation of People Act only certain categories of prisoners who are in confinement don't have voting rights.

He claimed that the restrictions were for convicts and not undertrials. He also said that it was only a matter of a couple of hours, the duo could be taken to Vidhan Sabha with police escorts and brought back.

Ponda cited the example of state cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal who was allowed to go to the legislative assembly and vote during the presidential elections when he was imprisoned in a money laundering case in 2017.

However, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh representing the ED said there was no such distinction between prisoners. He questioned where the distinction came from.

According to the ED, Deshmukh had misused his position as state home minister and collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai through some police of officers. He was arrested in November 2021,

Malik was arrested by the ED on February 23 this year in a money laundering case linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

After more than two decades, the state will witness a contest in the Rajya Sabha polls as there are seven candidates in the fray for the six seats.

The ruling Shiv Sena has fielded two candidates, its MVA allies NCP and Congress have nominated one candidate each, while the opposition BJP has put up three candidates.

The contest for the sixth seat lies between BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Pawar.