Money laundering case: Non-bailable warrant issued against Pankaj Bhujbal
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against NCP MLA Pankaj Bhujbal in a money laundering case in which his father Chhagan Bhujbal and cousin Samir are already in judicial custody.
Before issuing the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Pankaj, judge P.R. Bhavake further extended judicial custody of both former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer for another 14 days.
The judge took cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and issued NBWs against all the accused named in the chargehseet, including accused number 3 i.e. Pankaj Bhujbal. The chargesheet was filed in connection with the alleged '960-crore scam in the construction of Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and alleged land-grabbing in Kalina.
Pankaj was named in the FIR filed by the agency, besides his father, and other associates and business entities.
During court proceedings advocate Vinod Gangwal and Kaushik Mhatre argued on intervention applications filed by them. Both the lawyers have requested the court to invoke Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on Chhagan and Samir Bhujbal.
The lawyers contended that this is a fit case to invoke MCOCA because it requires that more than one chargesheet should be filed within the last 10 years against any of the accused, and in this matter various agencies like Navi Mumbai police, ACB and ED have already filed chargesheets against them.
There is monetary gain, continuous criminal activity and a crime syndicate comprising all the accused is present in this case, argued the lawyers. They claimed that all the conditions which needed to be fulfilled before invoking MCOCA are present in this case so court should invoke the stringent law on these accused.
ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar opposed the application saying as per law only a court notified as MCOCA court can invoke MCOCA and this court being PMLA court cannot do so. He also said that this is not a schedule crime and MCOCA cannot be applied on it. Senior lawyer Harshad Ponda on behalf of Chhagan Bhujbal and advocate RB Mokashi representing Samir also opposed the application.
The judge than reserved his order on the application till May 3. The ED had on March 30 filed a 11,500-page chargesheet naming Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer, real estate firms like D B Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private Limited, Neelkamal Central Apartment LLP and Kakade Infrastructure.
