Breaking | Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Remanded To ED Custody In Patra Chawl Land Scam Case Till August 4

A Special ED Court in Mumbai has remanded Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to custody of Enforcement Directorate till August 4.

The agency arrested the parliamentarian on Sunday after searches for over nine hours at his Bhandup residence regarding redevelopment of a chawl project in a northern suburb of Mumbai. It had sought eight days custody.

Special Judge MG Deshpande while partly allowing ED's plea, said that everything is already documented and even the money trial in the account of Raut and his wife can be obtained. Thus, such long custody for 8 days is "not warranted."

The Court also took note of Raut's health condition and allowed his applications seeking medicines, home cooked food and legal consultation.

"As the accused is suffering from heart disease, ED should consider hospitalisation for the accused if required and also maintain hours for interrogation noting this aspect," the Judge said. 

Case So Far

The ED is investigating alleged violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 regarding irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl by Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd. The company is a subsidiary of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).

Earlier the ED arrested a close associate of Raut, Pravin Raut in the case. The agency also attached Sanjay Raut's wife - Varsha Raut's properties.

Guru Ashish Construction, in a tri-parte agreement with Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA)had undertaken to develop 672 flats for tenants of Patra Chawl, develop flats for MHADA, and finally to sell the remaining area to private developers.

However, according to the ED, Pravin Raut, one of the directors of Guru Ashish Constructions misled MHADA and sold the floor space index (FSI) to nine private developers, collecting Rs 901.79 crore. It failed to construct either the rehab portion for the 672 displaced tenants or the MHADA's portion.

Further ED claims that Pravin Raut received nearly Rs 100 crore from HDIL and "diverted" it to various close associates, including the family of Sanjay Raut.

On July 1, Raut was questioned for over 10 hours but didn't respond to summons thereafter citing the ongoing Parliament session.

"Among the Proceeds of crime (PoC) of around Rs. 112 crore (to Pravin Raut), ED has so far traced PoC amounting to Rs 1,06,44,375/- being transferred to the bank account of Shri Sanjay Raut/ his wife Smt. Varsha Raut," the End said in the remand. 

Special Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegavkar representing the ED called Raut, their "front man". He said that the money was used by Raut to purchase properties in Dadar area in Mumbai and Kihim in Alibaug.