The Supreme Court on Friday refrained from granting any immediate protection from arrest to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate.
A bench presided over by Justice A M Khanwilkar put the matter for consideration on August 3.
"List this plea on August 3 along with connected cases," the bench said.
ED had issued summons to the NCP leader and his son Hrishikesh seeking their appearance. Deshmukh had skipped the previous summonses by the agency.
Deshmukh, in the plea to the top court, challenged the summons and sought protection for both himself and his son, Hrishikesh.
He has been accused of money laundering for the alleged extortion from a bunch of orchestra bars in the city. It has been alleged that Rs 4.7 crore was collected as "extortion" from the orchestra bars by dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze allegedly on Deshmukh's instructions.
This amount was subsequently transferred to Deshmukh’s Nagpur-based educational trust by his son, Hrishikesh. According to the allegation, the transaction was routed via two hawala operators and was showed as a 'donation'. The 71-year-old NCP leader is the president of the trust and his two sons, Salil and Hrishikesh, are trustees.
On May 11, a case was registered against the former home minister and on June 25, the ED raided Deshmukh's residences in Nagpur, Mumbai, and three other places.
Param Bir Singh, former commissioner of Mumbai police in his letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.
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