Special Court Remands Lawyer Who Filed Case Against Devendra Fadnavis, And His Brother To ED's Custody Till April 6

The Special PMLA Court granted the Enforcement Directorate Nagpur-based lawyer Satish Uke and his brother's custody till April 6 in a money laundering case alleging land grabbing. Special Judge GB Gurao passed the order after marathon arguments advanced by the ED, Uke and his advocate. "The predicate offences are sheduled offences as per PMLA, the investigation is at preliminary stage and detailed investigation is necessary," the judge observed. Uke, has filed several petitions against politicians in the past, including BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, for non-disclosure of information in election affidavit. He had also filed a petition in the Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench seeking an investigation into the death of Special CBI Judge B H Loya, who allegedly passed away due to a cardiac arrest at a follow judge's kin's wedding at Nagpur in 2014. At the relevant time, was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Shaikh, Kausar Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati murder case in which Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Amit Shah too was an accused. On Thursday the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Uke in connection with a land grabbing case after day-long searches at his residence in Paravati Nagar, starting at 6am. ED represented by Special Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegavkar submitted that their case is based on two FIRs registered in Nagpur. In one of the cases, Ukes allegedly grabbed one-and-a-half acres of land at Babulkheda area in Nagpur around two decades ago. In the second, the brothers allegedly grabbed five-and-half acres of land at Bokhare from a 54-year-old widow named Khairunissa. According to ED, Khairunissa's complaint was lodged at Ajni police station in which she had also claimed to have been molested by the brothers. She accused the Uke brothers of forging documents, including creating a fake power of attorney, to transfer her properties in their name. ED claimed that Uke pressurised her stating that her husband had entered into a land deal with the him but hadn't made the payment. They claimed that Ukes wanted her to fulfill her end of the deal. However, Uke cited an agreement from 2018 between Khairunissa and a third party. "She herself created this fake document. She has taken Rs. 8.2 lakhs for the same land which she sold to me in 2008," Uke argued. "Khairunssa's complaint is false, which is lodged after a period of 12 years. She has done it to avoid the criminal liability of my complaint from 2020. And on the basis of three false complaints, they are demanding my custody," Uke argued. Ukey's lawyer R Jadhav argued before the Special PMLA Court that there was no "illegal money" in this case and that the agency must show the same. The lawyer submitted that Ukey was not aware of grounds for his arrest and that fundamental rights were above all special laws. He further argued that PMLA meant legitimising illegitimate gains, but there was no illegitimate money in this case. He added that the agency was citing a land related transaction from the year 2001, but there was no cash exchange in that transaction and that Ukey had paid the money by cheque. He also argued that Ukey was picked up from his residence at 6.30am on Thursday, therefore, he should have been produced in a court before 6.30am on Friday. He argued that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's brother had threatened his (Satish Ukey's) brother and he was arrested since he didn't handover documents related to the Loya case. "I have filed application for bail. There is a life threat to him(Uke) and his brother. He has already spoken about the cases he filed against Fadnavis," his lawyer said. He sought for the court to remand Uke to judicial custody immediately and release him on bail. He further sought directions for an FIR against ED officers for violation of his fundamental right. During the hearing, the bench asked ED to make submissions on Uke's allegations of illegal detention, and if a person charged under section 467. Venegavkar said that the requirement under PMLA is that there should be live FIRs and they should be related to the money laundering offence. He submitted that it wouldn't be open for the court to comment on proceeding before a different forum. Regarding the court's queries on illegal detention, Venegavkar said that the time would be calculated only from the time he was arrested. And according to the arrest memo, Uke was arrested after 5pm yesterday. Moreover, that statements recorded by the ED under section 50 of the PMLA Act are admissible as evidence and that the accused have not cooperated.

Special Court Remands Lawyer Who Filed Case Against Devendra Fadnavis, And His Brother To ED's Custody Till April 6

Sharmeen Hakim

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