PMLA case: No 'implicit reliance' on Waze's 'inconsistent statements', says court; gives bail to Anil Deshmukh aide Shinde

Implicit reliance cannot be placed on the inconsistent statements of former policeman Sachin Waze observed a special court here while granting bail in a money laundering case to Kundan Shinde an aide of former Maharashtra home minister Anil DeshmukhThe court further said there is no other material of sterling quality to connect accused Shinde with the allegation made by the Enforcement Directorate probing the caseThe special judge for cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA R N Rokade had granted bail to Shinde on February 1 The detailed order was available on ThursdayAlso readMaha Top manufacturer of defence equipment faces cyber attack police registers FIRShinde however is still in jail as he is also an accused in a corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI The court is likely to pass its order on his bail plea in the CBI case on FridayAs per the ED Shinde was instrumental in collecting Rs 470 crore from Sachin Waze also an accused in the case on behalf of then state home minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh The entire case is based on the statement given by Waze to the EDHowever Shinde in his bail application filed through advocates Vikram Chaudhry Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh raised doubts on the credibility of Wazes statementsAs per Shindes plea the credibility of accused Waze was a matter of serious concern and his statements made before the ED were wholly unreliable and had no creditworthinessFurther Waze has made several statements before the Commission of Enquiry set up by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government to probe the allegations against Deshmukh in which he has claimed he never met Deshmukh or the applicant Shinde and had not passed on any illegally collected money the plea further saidTherefore the ambit and scope of statements purportedly made by accused Sachin Waze before the Enforcement Directorate is a matter of grave concern Shindes plea saidAfter hearing both sides the court said The challenge to credibility and reliability of the statements of accused Waze in the light of inconsistent statements made by him cannot be said to be unfoundedTherefore I am inclined to hold that implicit reliance cannot be placed upon the statements of Waze There is no other material of sterling quality except statements of accused Waze to connect the applicant with the allegations made in the complaint the judge further saidAdditionally the court also noted there are bleak chances of Shindes conviction on the basis of inconsistent statements of WazeHaving regard to the entire gamut of the circumstances including bleak chances of conviction suppression of material statements by ED and enlargement of coaccused Anil Deshmukh and Sanjeev Palande it was fit case to grant bail to Shinde the court observedShinde who worked as the personal assistant of Deshmukh when the latter was the state home minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in June 2021 for his alleged role in the money laundering caseAs per the ED prime accused Deshmukh allegedly misused his official position as state home minister and collected Rs 470 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai through WazeThis money was then laundered through the Nagpurbased Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha an education trust controlled by Deshmukhs family the ED has further allegedDeshmukh has claimed the EDs case was based on malicious statements made by WazeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever