Raut's arrest was illegal, says court, asks why accused Wadhawans were spared

The arrest of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate ED was illegal and a witchhunt a special court here said on Wednesday while granting him bail in the Patra Chawl redevelopment matterIt also questioned why the main accused in the case Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan of real estate firm HDIL were never arrested by the EDFurther the reason the agency did not arrest concerned officials of MHADA and other government departments was nothing but conveying a message to thenUnion agriculture minister and then Maharashtra chief minister creating a fear psyche in their mind that they are the next in this queue the judge saidIt was an astonishing admitted fact that main accused Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan of HDIL who had not only generated over Rs 1000 crore but also allegedly placed layered and integrated the same were never arrested by the ED it saidAlso Read Measles outbreak BMC starts vaccination drives doortodoor survey in MumbaiThe special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act M G Deshpande granted bail to Sanjay Raut arrested on August 1 and his aide Praveen Raut arrested in February 2022The Wadhawans were arrested and could not secure bail to date in many other cases filed by the EDHowever in the instant case considering the major role attributed to them which they have also admitted yet ED has not arrested and allowed them to be scot free for the reason best known to themprobe agency the judge saidThe ED arrested Pravin Raut purely for a civil dispute and Sanjay Raut for no reasons it saidBasically there was no reason nor any occasion to arrest both of them under section 19 of the PMLA for the allegations which are basically nothing but a civil dispute the court saidSection 19 of PMLA grants power to arrest any person to the concerned government officialsThere is absolutely nothing to show that right from the inception in 2006shy2007 Pravin Raut and Sanjay Raut entered the redevelopment project with an intention to fraudulently induce and cheat MHADA and 672 occupants thereof the court saidWadhawans and their firm HDIL had clearly admitted that their misdeeds caused delay and the same was acknowledged by the High Court when the MHADA too consented said the judgeAll this has been ignored by ED it saidSanjay Raut had sought time to appear before the ED when it summoned him but this could not be the reason to arrest him said the courtTherefore I am of the firm opinion that the arrest of both accused is basically illegal without any qualifications required under the provisions of PML Act it saidIt also referred to Sanjay Rauts plea that he had undergone angioplasty twice and he was kept in a room where there was no ventilationIt is only then due to the court intervention he could get a room with some ventilation in ED custody All this primashyfacie indicates that his arrest is nothing but a witchshyhunt and annihilation of his valuable rights the judge saidThe court referred to the statement of a witness Chandan Kelekar who alleged there were two meetings regarding the redevelopment which were attended by then Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and then Maharashtra Chief Minister and this formed the basis for a supplementary complaintSkipping all MHADA and government officials from arrest is nothing but conveying a message to the then Union agriculture minister and then chief minister creating a fear psyche in their mind that they are the next in this queue the court heldThe court also said there were no proceeds of crime in the case that could have attracted PMLA nor was there any evidence that whatever received by Sanjay Raut was proceeds of crimeThe ED had not concluded even a single trial right from the establishment of this designated court by leading evidence and the court could not give a single judgment right from the last decade the judge observedthe extrashyordinary pace with which ED arrests accused becomes not even a snail speed in conducting trials the court addedThe EDs probe pertained to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl row tenement in suburban Goregaon and related financial transactions involving Sanjay Rauts wife and associatesIn 2008 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 EDThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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