The Bombay High Court has declined to allow beleaguered NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who is facing charges in a money laundering case, to withdraw his petition challenging provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following opposition by the Enforcement Directorate
The Bombay High Court has declined to allow beleaguered NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who is facing charges in a money laundering case, to withdraw his petition challenging provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following opposition by the Enforcement Directorate.
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Bhujbal had urged HC to allow him to withdraw his petition as he wanted to file a fresh plea soon.
HC rejection
A vacation bench of justice MS Karnik observed during the hearing on Wednesday that a petition can’t be allowed to be withdrawn without the consent of both the sides.
“In this case, ED has opposed the plea of the petitioner to withdraw... So I am not inclined to allow the applicant (Bhujbal) to withdraw his plea,” the judge said.
Bhujbal, through his lawyer Vikram Chaudhary, had challenged sections 19 and 45 of the PMLA — 19 empowers the ED to arrest an accused based on evidence gathered by the agency against the individual, while 45 deals with bail of the accused.
ED’s argument
ED’s lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar argued that the agency welcomed the move of the accused to withdraw the petition but was opposed to his plea to file a fresh petition.
The HC also asked Bhujbal’s lawyer to approach a regular bench after the Diwali vacation, and posted the matter for hearing on November 16.
Bhujbal was arrested in March by the ED in an alleged money-laundering case in which it claimed that he had caused a loss of Rs 870 crore to the exchequer.
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