Supreme Court rejects ED plea to cancel NCP MLA Chhagan Bhujbal’s bail

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by the Enforcement Directorate seeking that bail granted to Maharashtra MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal in a money-laundering case be cancelled, reported Live Law.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in awarding contracts to build the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi when Bhujbal was the state public works department minister.

Bhujbal, the MLA from the Yeola constituency in the Nashik district, is a member of the Nationalist Congress Party faction headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The former minister was booked on charges of fraud and forgery, and was arrested on March 14, 2016. In December that year, the Bombay High Court rejected his petition challenging his arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The High Court, however, granted Bhujbal bail in May 2018.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that since the High Court order granting bail was passed “way back in 2018”, no case was made out for interfering with it, according to Live Law.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan also disposed of a petition by Bhujbal against the High Court judgement from 2016 rejecting his petition against his arrest. The bench said that since Bhujbal was released on bail in 2018, it was not…

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