Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh Approaches Bombay High Court to Quash ED Summons

Former State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has approached the Bombay High Court to quash the summons issued to him to appear before the Enforcement directorate.

Justice Revati Mohite Dere recused from hearing the plea on Thursday.

"Not before me," she said.

The petition filed under Section 482 seeks setting aside of the summons and various other directions to the ED for the recording of statement.

It further seeks to entrust the investigation to an SIT comprising ED officers outside the Mumbai Zone office and to monitor/supervise investigations in terms of the ratio laid down by the SC in Babubhai Jamuna Das Patel's case.

The statement should be recorded in electronic mode, attendance should be through an authorised agent, the plea states

The ED is investigating a money laundering case against Deshmukh based on the CBI's corruption FIR against him wherein Ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze and two other officers to illegally collect Rs 100 crore from bar owners every month for him.

The ED has filed a prosecution complaint, equivalent to a charge sheet, against two of Deshmukh's associates.

ED has issued five summons to Deshmukh to appear before it so far.

Earlier this month the Supreme Court refused Deshmukh interim protection against coercive steps by the ED and asked him to approach the appropriate court under the CrPC instead.

The agency claims to have established a money trail wherein dismissed cop Sachin Waze collected

Rs 4.7 crore from bar owners and handed the money over to Deshmukh's arrested PA Kundan Shinde.

ED further states that the money was eventually laundered through shell companies abroad by Deshmukh's son Hrishikesh and put into Deshmukh's educational trust in Nagpur.