Nawab Malik approaches Bombay HC seeking release from ED custody, quashing of ECIR

Nawab Malik has approached the Bombay High Court seeking release from ED custody along with the quashing of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered against him.

Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik has approached the Bombay High Court seeking that the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered against him be quashed. He has also sought immediate release from Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

In his petition, Malik stated that he was illegally arrested for being a "vocal critique of the misuse of central agencies since actor Rhea Chakraborty's arrest."

Malik was arrested by the ED on Feb 23 and is in the custody of the federal probe agency till March 3. An ECIR is akin to an FIR registered by police but while FIR is a public document, ECIR is an internal document of the ED by which the agency initiates the investigation of a case.

The Maharashtra minister has emphasised that his arrest was illegal as due procedure was not followed. He claims that he was forcibly picked up from his house on the morning of Feb 23 at about 6 am without any summons or notice under Section 41-A of the CrPC, and thereafter detained at the ED office. He alleged that he was served with a summons while he was already in the ED's custody and the summon asked him to be present at 8 am on that very day.

Malik’s plea states that he "is not the first to be targeted and this is a worrying trend across the nation where central agencies are being misused by the party in power”.

READ | Why Nawab Malik’s arrest by ED may be a warning signal for Uddhav Thackeray government

For ED to probe a case, there has to be an FIR in existence. Malik has denied having any connection to the investigation being done by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) against underworld fugitive, Dawood Ibrahim.The allegation against Malik is that in connivance with Dawood's sister Haseena Parkar, he snatched away a 3-acre parcel of land at a throwaway price 20 years ago.