Mumbai: Special court grants bail to Sanjay Raut in money laundering cases

A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday granted bail to Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case pertaining to the Patra Chawl redevelopment projectThe court rejected the Enforcement Directorates plea urging it not to give effect to the bail order till Friday paving the way for the release of Rajya Sabha member Raut who was arrested on July 31 this year and is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road Jail in MumbaiThe ED then said it would approach the Bombay High Court seeking cancellation of the bail order and an interim order for a stay on the same even as a lawyer of Raut said they will try to complete the formalities by Wednesday evening to facilitate his release from the prisonThe court also granted bail to the parliamentarians associate and coaccused Pravin RautA lawyer representing the ED told PTI We are in the process of filing an appeal seeking cancellation of the bail order We will be mentioning it before a single bench of the high court this evening seeking interim stay on the orderRauts lawyer however said they would go ahead with the formalities to ensure the Sena leader walks out of the jail on WednesdayEarlier Special Judge M G Deshpande designated to hear cases pertaining to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA allowed the bail plea of Raut after hearing arguments from both sidesThe Enforcement Directorate ED arrested Rajya Sabha member Raut in July this year for his alleged role in financial irregularities in connection with the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl row tenement in suburban GoregaonRaut had in his bail plea claimed the case against him was a perfect example of abuse of power and political vendettaThe ED had opposed Rauts plea saying he played a major role in the money laundering case related to the Patra Chawl redevelopment and acted behind the curtains to avoid the money trailAlso Read There was pressure on me to betray Sena landed in jail as I did not pay heed to it Raut writes to motherThe EDs probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl and related financial transactions involving his wife and associatesSiddharth Nagar popularly known as the Patra Chawl in Goregaon is spread over 47 acres and houses 672 tenant familiesIn 2008 the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA a government agency assigned a redevelopment contract for the Chawl to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited GACPL a sister company of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd HDILThe GACPL was supposed to build 672 flats for the tenants and also give some flats to MHADA It was free to sell the remaining land to private developersBut the tenants did not get a single flat in the last 14 years as the company did not redevelop the Patra Chawl and sold land parcels and Floor Space Index FSI to other builders for Rs 1034 crore as per the EDWith inputs from PTI