Bombay High Court directs Enforcement Directorate to file reply to Nawab Malik’s plea

Petition says the NCP leader was targeted for being ‘a vocal critic of the misuse of central agencies’

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to reply to a plea by Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik, challenging his arrest by the ED. A Division Bench of Justices S. B. Shukre and G. A. Sanap was hearing a petition filed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader seeking immediate release on the ground that he was targeted for being a “vocal critic of the misuse of central agencies”.

Senior advocate Amit Desai, appearing for the Minister of Minority Affairs and Skill Development, said, “Tomorrow is the remand date. If the judge continues his [Mr. Malik’s; ED] custody the prosecution will say that the petition is not maintainable since this is a habeas corpus petition.”

The court said, “If you say the first remand order is illegal, then the second remand does not make it legal.” The court adjourned the matter to be heard on March 7 and directed the ED to file its reply.

The petition states: “The political rivals of the petitioner naturally have been deeply embarrassed by the exposes carried out by the petitioner and the present brazen and completely illegal action of the ED is to try to muzzle him.” The petition also points out, “The case in hand pertains to a property purchase done two decades ago, when PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) was not on the statute book and hence, there cannot be any retrospective application of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).”

Also read: Nawab Malik | The Minister in the dock

On February 24, the special PMLA court remanded Mr. Malik to the ED's custody till March 3 in a money laundering case involving a land deal with fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister.