Mumbai, February 24 The Bombay High Court has quashed a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against a Nagpur-based lawyer in connection with alleged kickbacks involving former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
A single bench of Justice Ashwin Bhobe, in an order passed on Monday and a copy of which was made available on Tuesday, said there is no case against advocate Kishore Dewani.
The HC said that the case against the applicant (Dewani) should be quashed to prevent misuse of the legal process.
The court noted that the ED failed to establish any connection between Dewani's property transactions and the proceeds of crime allegedly generated in the corruption case against Deshmukh and others.
The money laundering case was filed after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR against Deshmukh and others, alleging extortion and corruption.
Dewani moved the High Court seeking to quash the ED's money laundering case, claiming innocence and that he was implicated in the case.
The allegation against Dewani was that his company had received money, which was proceeds of crime, from Deshmukh's trust, which was then used to purchase properties.
The High Court, in its order, noted that the properties in question were purchased in 2005-2007, while the alleged offence and proceeds of crime, according to the prosecution, were generated between December 2020 and February 2021.
"Therefore, it is undeniable that the properties cannot be said to have any connection with the proceeds of crime, as the acts constituting the scheduled offence took place after their acquisition, i.e. after December 2020 and up to February 2021," the HC said.
Dewani had approached the High Court challenging an order of the special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which took cognizance of the ED's complaint against Dewani and issued a notice.
Justice Bhobe set aside the order and also quashed the complaint against Dewani.
The allegations against Deshmukh were that during his tenure as home minister of Maharashtra, he had extorted money from bar owners in Mumbai.
The ED had alleged that about Rs 2.20 crore had come into Dewani's Premier Port Links from Flourish Properties Pvt Ltd, allegedly linked to the Deshmukh family, and that Dewani had assisted in concealment and laundering.
