BREAKING| Supreme Court Dismisses ED's Plea Challenging Bail Granted To Anil Deshmukh

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate challenging the Bombay High Court's order granting bail to NCP leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a PMLA case. A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli however clarified that the observations made by the High Court will not influence the trial and are only confined to the issue of bail.After hearing the petition elaborately for over one and half hours, the bench said that it will not interfere with the High Court's order. Deshmukh is under custody since November 2, 2021 when he was arrested in a money laundering case related to alleged collection of bribes from bar hotel owners in Mumbai.Although the High Court passed the order granting bail to Deshmukh on October 4, it kept the order in abeyance till October 12 at the request of the ED. While granting bail, a single bench of Justice NJ Jemadar prima facie observed that the former minister, in all probability, "may not be ultimately convicted" in the money laundering case being investigated by ED. The High Court had also held that the statements of Sachin Waze and Parambir Singh were contradictory.High Court conducted mini-trial, order is perverse : EDSolicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, took objection to the High Court making observations to the effect that Deshmukh is unlikely to get convicted based on the evidence."The court conducts a mini trial, evidence is selectively discussed resulting into findings being perverse. Admissibility of evidence and character of evidence is discussed and recorded a finding that based on this evidence it is not possible to have conviction", SG submitted.The bench observed that the High Court might have been constrained to make these remarks as Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act puts a condition that the Court should have prima facie satisfaction regarding the innocence of the accused. "Because the threshold is so high that the HC has to go into such detail", Justice Chandrachud remarked.Bench suggests sustaining the bail order on health groundsAt this point, the bench suggested that the bail could be sustained on health grounds, considering the age of Deshmukh, and clarify that the observations on merit will not influence further proceedings. The bench said that bail is routinely granted to accused when they are aged above 70 years."Let us keep the merits aside, here is a man aged 73 years, he has multiple ailments...suppose we say we sustain the order on ground of health and set aside other observations of the HC", Justice Chandrachud observed.Sachin Waze collected bribes for "Number 1" : EDSG Mehta however stuck to the stand that the High Court's order is perverse and must be set aside on that count. He took the bench through the observations made by the High Court raising doubts regarding the statements of former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh. The SG read out the statement of Sachin Waze regarding collection of bribes from bar hotels for being handed over to "Number 1", a code reference to Deshmukh. He added that the money eventually went to an organization of which Deshmukh was the Chairman and the transactions happened through several shell companies. There are statements of witnesses corroborating these transactions.Allegations at best constitute corruption; where is the money laundering element? Bench asks The SG said that the High Court has taken the view that there was confusion as to whether "Number 1" was the Home Minister or the Police Commissioner.At this juncture, Justice Chandrachud asked "these allegations at best may constitute an offence of corruption. Where is the element of money laundering?".Justice Chandrachud also pointed out that the statements of the bar hotel owners seem to suggest that the money was destined for the Police Commissioner."The bar owners say that the money was meant for the Commissioner of Police", Justice Chandrachud said."Bar owners say Sachin Waze said money was for Number 1 and in their understanding, Number 1 is the home minister", SG replied.Justice Chandrachud also asked if Waze is an accused in other cases. SG replied in the affirmative. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, for Deshmukh, added that Waze is an accused in a murder case as well."He is an officer, suspended for 16 years. An accused in a Section 302 case becomes an approver in a money laundering case...", Justice Chandrachud raised doubts regarding Waze's credibility."I am afraid we will be making the same mistake as the learned judge (of the High Court) if we go in that direction", the SG replied. The SG said that a holistic view of the evidence on record should be taken instead of the selective view which the High Court has adopted.Justice Chandrachud repeated the query regarding link to money laundering. "The allegation is that he collected Rupees 3 lakhs each from...

BREAKING| Supreme Court Dismisses ED's Plea Challenging Bail Granted To Anil Deshmukh

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