Nawab Malik moves SC against HC order rejecting his interim plea for release

New Delhi: Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik has moved the Supreme Court against an order of the Bombay High Court which had rejected his interim application seeking immediate release in a case of money laundering.

In his plea which has been drafted by advocate Ankur Chawla, Malik has challenged the March 15 order of the division bench of the high court which had rejected the application saying just because the special PMLA court’s order remanding him in custody is not in his favour, it does not make that order illegal or wrong.

The special leave petition (SLP) has been filed by advocate V D Khanna.

After the Enforcement Directorate had arrested Malik under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), he had filed a habeas corpus plea in the high court claiming that his arrest by the ED and the consequent remands were illegal.

The high court had said that Malik’s counsel had argued before the PMLA court and vehemently opposed the ED’s request for the minister’s custody.

“There is also merit in the submissions of the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) that merely because the special court granted the custody of petitioner (Malik) would not make that order illegal ipso facto because the petitioner is aggrieved,” the high court had said.

The high court had said that Malik was arrested by the ED in accordance with the law, and subsequently been remanded to the probe agency’s custody and then to judicial custody following due process.

It had noted that Malik had gone to the ED’s office for questioning on February, 23, the day he was arrested, in response to previous summons issued to him by the central agency.

He was then issued an arrest order and taken into custody by the ED, the high court had said.

“In the present case, there is no dispute on the factual aspect that custody order is passed by the competent court of jurisdiction- the special court,” the high court had said.

“And secondly, merely because the order is against the petitioner, it cannot be termed as patently illegal,” the court had said.

Malik was arrested by the ED over a property deal allegedly linked to the aides of gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Soon after his arrest, the minister had filed a habeas corpus plea in the high court, challenging his arrest and the remand orders.

As an interim prayer, he had sought that he be released from custody immediately.

The high court had said that Malik’s petition had raised some debatable issues and the court needed to hear at length the arguments from both sides before passing any final orders.

The central agency has accused Malik of being part of an alleged criminal conspiracy to usurp a property in Mumbai’s Kurla area which currently has a market value of Rs 300 crore and belongs rightfully to one Munira Plumber.

Malik had contended before the high court that he had bought the property in a bonafide transaction three decades ago, and Plumber has now changed her mind about the transaction.