Bombay HC grants bail to Anil Deshmukh in corruption case, release in 10 days

A former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Monday in a corruption case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The High Court ordered Deshmukh to be released on bail after he submitted a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and sureties for the same sum, and instructed him to cooperate with the investigation. The high court declared that the bail ruling will take effect after ten days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked for a stay on the implementation of the bail order to approach the Supreme Court.

Anil Deshmukh’s appeal of a decision by a special CBI court denying him bail was reserved by Justice Makarand S. Karnik’s one-judge panel on December 8.

Deshmukh’s bail in the money laundering case would not allow him for bail in the corruption case, the CBI had already told the high court. The CBI also claimed in its affidavit that the accusations made against the former minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act were distinct from the case brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was lodged under the PMLA.  “The PMLA case has no bearing on the instant CBI case. That the allegations substantiated against the present applicant are of criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable under section 7 of the PC,” read the affidavit.

The Bombay High Court had given bail to Deshmikh in the money laundering case in the month of October of this year, after this, the Supreme Court had rejected the ED’s challenge to the bail given to him in the same month.

He is currently being held in judicial custody and is being lodged at the Mumbai prison on Arthur Road.

Deshmukh, 74, approached the HC after his bail plea was denied by a special CBI court last month. He applied for bail on medical grounds.

A former top Mumbai police officer, Parambir Singh, made accusations against him, which led to his imprisonment last year. It was one of the major political disputes during the administration of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November last year after being charged with money laundering.

He was taken into custody by the CBI in the corruption case in April of this year.

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