The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail of two months to former Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on medical grounds in an alleged money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi said that the bail is being granted to Nawab only on medical grounds and not on merits of the case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the anti-money laundering agency said he has no objection to the bail on medical grounds.
The bench in its order said, “The petitioner is at present in hospital, Mumbai, being treated for ailments related to the kidney and other ailments. Let him be released on medical bail for two months. Let the counter affidavit be filed to the main petition within five weeks and rejoinder thereafter in three weeks. List after 10 weeks. Bail granted. We are passing the order strictly on medical conditions and have not entered merits.”
The order of the top court came on Malik’s plea against a Bombay High Court order which rejected the temporary bail on medical grounds.
Malik, while seeking bail on health grounds had claimed he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease apart from various other ailments.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had arrested Malik in February 2022 alleging that he usurped a property in Kurla with the help of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar between 1999 and 2006.
The ED has alleged that since Parkar handled the Dawood’s illegal businesses, the money was ultimately used for terror funding.