Mumbai Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s son Pankaj Bhujbal and nephew Sameer Bhujbal have approached the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court, seeking discharge from the Maharashtra Sadan case.
They said that as they have been discharged from the predicate offence, the money laundering case against them cannot continue in view of a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Apart from Bhujbal, four other accused in the case – Sanjay Joshi, Tanvir Shaikh, Satyen Kesarkar and Rajesh Dharap have also sought discharge from the case.
The special court has adjourned the matter to October 7 to enable ED to file its reply to the discharge pleas.
Bhujbals, and 51 others were charged by the ED in 2016 for money laundering after various offences, including the alleged Maharashtra Sadan scam and a land deal in Kalina, came to the fore.
The ED had initiated proceedings against Sameer and others based on the FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with Maharashtra Sadan scam and another case of cheating registered by local police in construction of a proposed residential building in Navi Mumbai.
The Maharashtra Sadan scam pertained to redevelopment of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi wherein the prosecution alleged that the contract for redevelopment of the state guesthouse was not advertised, and the contractor gave the subcontract to the companies owned by the Bhujbal family and friends.
While discharging the accused in the case, the special ACB court held that there was no illegality in awarding the contract for construction of Maharashtra Sadan.
Later, they were also discharged from the case registered by the Navi Mumbai police for cheating, breach of trust and under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA). The case was registered against the Bhujbals and others in 2015 based on a complaint of a Chembur resident.
The complaint was filed against the directors of Devisha Infrastructure Private Limited (DIPL) which included Bhujbals.
It was alleged that the accused hatched a conspiracy and projected that they will develop project Hexworld on 25-acres of land in Kharghar. However, they were fully aware that DIPL had no lands in its name, no construction permission, and no possession of the land.
They misrepresented it to potential flat buyers by concealing the above facts with a view to cheat them and sold 2,344 flats and collected ₹44.04 crore as part payments. The accused in the case were discharged last year by the sessions court.
