SC allows Deshmukh to file application for early listing of bail plea

THE NCP LEADER HAD FILED A PETITION IN THE HC AFTER A SPECIAL COURT REJECTED HIS BAIL PLEA EARLIER

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh, arrested in connection with a money laundering case, is at liberty to file an application before the Bombay High Court for early listing of his pending bail plea.

A vacation bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and B V Nagarathna said it hopes and trusts the matter would be taken up for hearing expeditiously by the high court.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Deshmukh, said the petitioner is 73-year-old and requests that his pending bail plea, which was filed in March, be heard by the high court.

“….the petitioner (Deshmukh) is at liberty to file application for early listing of his bail application….,” the bench said. The top court observed that the bail application was listed before the high court on three occasions and it appeared that the matter could not be heard due to paucity of time.

“This court cannot fix a date for the high court,” the bench observed orally during the hearing. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021, and is currently in judicial custody.

On April 8, the high court had adjourned the hearing on Deshmukh’s bail application while deprecating the practice of seeking urgent hearings of bail pleas citing medical emergencies.

The HC had said urgent hearings being sought on medical grounds has become a problem.

The NCP leader had filed a petition in the HC after a special court rejected his bail plea earlier. He sought bail on grounds of his ailing health and termed the ED’s case false and frivolous.

The ED in its affidavit opposed the plea and alleged that Deshmukh was the mastermind behind the conspiracy and that he had misused his official position as home minister. The ED’s case is that while serving as the state home minister, Deshmukh misused his official position and collected ₹ 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai through Sachin Waze, a police officer who has been dismissed.