Maharashtra: No HC relief for Nawab Malik to vote in RS polls

Mumbai: A day after the Special PMLA Court rejected Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik’s plea for temporary bail to cast his vote in today’s Rajya Sabha polls, the Bombay High Court also refused to entertain his appeal, here on Friday.

Malik had moved the high court challenging the lower court order, but Justice P.D. Naik declined immediate relief and asked him to approach the appropriate bench dealing with bail applications.

Thereafter, Malik’s legal team of Amit Desai, Taraq Sayed and Kushal Mor, briefed by Rashmikant and Partners, moved the bench of Justice Bharati Dongre.

However, Justice Dongre declined to entertain the plea on grounds that Malik could not be allowed to go and cast his vote with a police escort when permission had already been refused by the Special Court on Thursday.

Malik is currently in judicial custody after his arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money-laundering pertaining to a tainted land deal involving the absconder mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.

Another NCP leader, ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh has also been declined relief by the Special PMLA Court Judge R. Rokade to go and cast his vote for the Rajya Sabha elections.

The ED lawyers had strongly opposed the pleas by both Deshmukh and Malik in the Special PMLA Court and the Bombay HC in the matter.

Voting for the six seats of RS in Maharashtra started at Vidhan Bhavan at 9 a.m. and was completed by 4 p.m., with the results expected later this evening.