Bombay High Court Refuses Temporary Bail To Nawab Malik On Medical Grounds In Money Laundering Case

The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused temporary bail to former Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik in ED's money laundering case.

The order was passed by Justice Anuja Prabhudessai. Court will hear his bail plea on merits, after two weeks.

Malik sought bail on the ground that one of his kidneys has failed and the other is functioning only at 60 percent capacity and is deteriorating further.

According to Malik’s plea, he had been suffering from kidney problem before his arrest in February 2022 which got aggravated after the arrest and is affecting other organs as well.

Enforcement Directorate opposed the bail application arguing that many people survive with one kidney. Further, none of the medical reports said that the second kidney was functioning at 60% of its capacity, hence bail on medical grounds could not be invoked in Malik’s case, the ED argued.

It is the ED's case that Malik connived with D-gang members i.e., Haseena Parker (late), her driver Salim Patel (late) and Sardar Khan (1993 bomb blast convict), and usurped one Munira Plumber's 3-acre ancestral property in Kurla for a pittance despite the ready reckoner rate of the property being Rs 3.54 crore between 2003-05.

ED arrested Malik alleging that since Parkar handled Dawood Ibrahim’s illegal businesses, the money was ultimately used for terror funding. According to ED, a power of attorney given by Plumber to Patel and Khan for removing encroachments on her land was misused to sell the property to a company owned by Malik's family.

ED filed draft charges against Malik before a special PMLA court accusing him of money laundering under section 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He is currently in judicial custody in a private hospital.

Case No - BA/3247/2022 [Criminal] 

Case Title - Nawab Malik v. Directorate of Enforcement