Tanisha Rana
Published on: September 8, 2022 at 22:15 IST
Sanjay Raut, an MP for the Shiv Sena, has gone before a court in Mumbai to request bail in a case involving money laundering.
Raut, who is currently in detention, is anticipated to mention the plea tomorrow in front of the Special Court in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On July 31, Raut was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering investigation involving the renovation of a chawl project in a Mumbai neighbourhood to the north.
In connection with the redevelopment of Patra Chawl and associated transactions involving his wife and “associates,” he was called in for questioning.
Raut had previously been questioned by ED on July 1 for more than 10 hours before being called in again on July 20.
The Rajya Sabha member chose not to respond to the summons, citing the present Parliamentary session. Later, on Sunday, a search and seizure operation was carried out at Raut’s Bhandup home.
Later in the afternoon, the investigators escorted the MP to the agency’s office at Ballard Pier in Mumbai after interviewing his family members for more than nine hours. He was then taken into custody around midnight.
In a case involving anomalies in the renovation of Patra Chawl by Guru Ashish Construction, a division of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), the ED is looking into possible breaches of the PMLA.
Prior to this, the agency detained Pravin Raut, a close friend and aide of Sanjay Raut, and attached Varsha Raut’s husband’s property.
As part of this inquiry, the ED temporarily seized assets belonging to Raut’s wife Varsha and two of his acquaintances in April totalling more than Rs. 11.15 crore.
On August 1, the special court issued an order allowing ED four days of detention, which was later extended until August 8.
He was then placed in judicial custody, and that detention has been extended again until September 19.
