Chhagan Bhujbal,
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted relief to senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and MLA Chhagan Bhujbal, by declining to entertain a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate challenging the bail granted to him in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan rejected the ED’s plea against his bail.
The court, however, also rejected Bhujbal's plea questioning his arrest in the matter.
The bench said that he was released on bail in 2018, and it was not necessary to go into the question of illegality of his arrest at the present stage.
The court noted the orders granting bail have been passed way back in the year 2018.
"Therefore, no case for interference is made out at this stage under Article 136 of the Constitution. The SLPs are dismissed," the bench said.
The Bombay High Court had in May, 2018 granted bail to Bhujbal in the money laundering case. The ED had arrested the former Maharashtra deputy chief minister after an inquiry revealed he and his associates had allegedly misused their office and caused financial loss to the government.
The agency had claimed that Bhujbal awarded contracts related to construction and development works, including one for the construction of the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, to a particular firm, in return for kickbacks for himself and his family.
It also alleged that Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal used to channel such money to illegal companies owned by them.