The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to Nationalist Congress Party leader Eknath Khadse’s wife Mandakini from arrest till April 25 in a 2016 case related to an alleged dubious land deal in Pune.
A single bench of justice Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a plea filed by Mrs. Khadse, 62, on October 13 seeking pre–arrest bail. She is charged with several Sections of Money Laundering and Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Her plea filed by advocate Mohan Tekavde said she is a senior citizen and listed a number of medical conditions she suffers from. The plea mentions that this was the only case against her and she had been cooperating with the investigation appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) 15 times.
On October 21, a single bench of justice Nitin Sambre had granted interim protection to Mr. Khadse in the same case and directed him to approach the special PMLA court to seek regular bail.
In September, a special court had initiated proceedings against Mr. Khadse and four others including Ms. Mandakini and son–in–law Girish Choudhary, observing that there was a prima facie case against them in the chargesheet filed by the ED.
On August 27, 2021, the ED seized properties of Mr. Khadse located in Lonavala and Jalgaon in connection with the Bhosari Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) land deal case. The value of the seized properties is over ₹5 crore.
Mr. Khadse has also moved the High Court to quash the complaint issued by the ED last October alleging fraud by causing a loss of ₹62 crore to the public exchequer. He says the land in question was purchased by his wife and son–in–law legally from the owner and there has been no illegality in the procedure.
As per the ED, the former Bharatiya Janata Party leader had misused his position as former Revenue Minister and purchased the land at ₹3.75 crore with the intent to seek compensation from the MIDC in future.
