Aamir Gazdar bail plea hearing on July 12

Mumbai: A special PMLA court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail application filed by Aamir Gazdar, close aide of controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik till July 12 after hearing arguments from both sides.

Gazdar filed a bail application on the ground that there was no evidence to prove he was involved in money laundering, and that transactions of money were handled directly by Dr Naik. He claimed that he was not part of the IRF Trust. He said that he has been behind bars for more than three months during which he had been thoroughly interrogated. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has already filed a complaint against him and there was no need to keep him in custody, as no further investigation was required.

Gazdar’s bail plea further claimed that he is not an accused in the case registered by the National Investigation Agency and keeping him in jail even now would amount to pre-trial punishment that is against the law.

ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar opposed the bail plea, saying there is evidence to show that Gazdar was the managing director of the trust and worked as Dr Naik’s right hand man. He argued that the agency had proof of Gazdar’s involvement in transacting money in cash but still claiming that Naik himself was handling all the transactions.

According to the ED counsel, crores of rupees are standing in the names of his family members, including two children, who do not have any source of income.