News Analysis India

Tag: Sanjeev Palande

  • Anil Deshmukh’s aide says ED arrested him without giving chance to reply to notice

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s then personal secretary (PS) Sanjeev Palande on Monday told a special court here through his lawyer that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested him in the money laundering case without allowing him to respond to the notice issued to him.

    Palande, an additional collector-rank officer, was arrested by the ED on June 26 in connection with the money laundering case involving Deshmukh.

    Palande, who is currently in judicial custody, recently filed an application seeking bail.

    Arguing for Palande, his advocate Shekhar Jagtap on Monday told the court that the former was taken into custody the same day his house was raided.

    Jagtap argued the ED arrested Palande without even allowing him to respond to the notice issued to him.

    He further said the ED had raided Palande’s residence on the same day as Deshmukh’s house and offices.

    “Both Palande and Deshmukh were issued notices under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure but Palande was not given a chance to respond to the notice and was arrested,” Jagtap argued.

    “The applicant (Palande) was picked up by the ED as if some incriminating material was found at his house,” he said, adding that Palande was an honest bureaucrat and there is no evidence of a single penny coming to him.

    Another accused arrested in the case, Kundan Shinde, who was working as Deshmukh’s assistant (PA), had also filed an application seeking bail.

    Shinde’s advocate Ejaz Khan argued that his client was incriminated in the case only based on the statement given by dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze.

    Khan argued that Waze’s statement cannot be relied upon as his bonafide are in question as he is an accused and behind bars in another case.

    The court will continue hearing the bail pleas on September 29.

    The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 on charges of corruption and the misuse of the official position.

    The federal anti-money laundering agency has so far arrested two persons in the case namely Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde.

    The agency had last month submitted its prosecution complaint (equivalent to a chargesheet) against the duo before a special court.

    The CBI had lodged its FIR against Deshmukh after it conducted a preliminary enquiry against the NCP leader following an order from the High Court on April 5.

    Deshmukh had resigned from the post of the home minister on April 5 but had denied any wrongdoing.

  • Maharashtra government suspends Anil Deshmukh’s ex-personal secretary months after arrest in corruption case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Nearly three months after his arrest, the Maharashtra government has suspended Sanjeev Palande, an additional collector-rank officer who was personal secretary to former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, in connection with a corruption case.

    Palande was arrested on June 26 this year and is being investigated under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    A government order issued on September 16 said that Palande was sent to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody on July 7 and then to judicial custody.

    He has spent more than 48 hours in custody and as per the Maharashtra Civil Services Rules, he stands suspended since the time of his arrest on June 26 till further orders.

    Palande ‘s headquarters during his suspension period will be at Mumbai city district collectorate and he will not be able to leave Mumbai city district without prior permission of the collector, it said.

    The order said the ED has informed the state government about Palande’s arrest and custody through a letter on August 31.

    He was arrested in connection with money laundering charges against Deshmukh, an NCP leader.

    Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked police officer Sachin Waze top collec Rs 100 crore from city bars and hotels every month, a charge which the former minister has denied.

  • Bombay HC asks ED to file affidavit on plea of Anil Deshmukh’s arrested aide in money laundering case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit its affidavit on a petition filed by Sanjeev Palande, an arrested aide of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, that seeks to quash the money laundering case lodged by the agency.

    Palande, an additional collector-rank official who was working as Deshmukh’s personal secretary, was arrested by the ED on June 26 in the money laundering case.

    He is presently in judicial custody.

    In his petition filed earlier this week, Palande sought that the case be quashed.

    He also challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), under which he has been booked.

    The petition said that the FIR registered by the ED was “politically motivated” and that the whole case is based on the vague allegations made by dismissed cop Sachin Waze, who has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a central agency.

    Palande further alleged that he has been booked and arrested only “with an intention to create false evidence against the former home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh and to disrupt the stability of the state of Maharashtra”.

    When the plea came up for hearing on Friday before a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar, additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the ED, sought time to respond to the plea.

    The court asked the agency to file its affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on September 28.

    In his plea, Palande claimed that the ED has been acting “arbitrarily and ultra vires to the Constitution of India” and that he has not committed any offence and has been falsely implicated.

    “The ED lacks jurisdiction for invoking provisions of the Act (PMLA) against the petitioner (Palande) as the predicate offence, on the basis of which the present case is lodged, does not make any allegation against the petitioner,” the plea said.

    “The present case is baseless, premature and deserves to be quashed,” it added.

    Palande claimed that he has been booked and arrested based on the alleged statements made by tainted cop Sachin Waze, who is now dismissed from service after his arrest in the Antilia bomb scare and businessman Mansukh Hiran killing case.

    “No case can be made out against the petitioner in connection with the alleged crime, as the allegations are vague and merely based on the baseless allegations made by one Sachin Waze, a tainted official, who is neither a witness or accused in the case,” the petition said.

    It added that the present case is nothing but a malicious prosecution which is politically motivated without any justified cause and/or reason”.

    “The petitioner cannot be prosecuted on the statement made by Waze as he is in the custody of the NIA, another agency operating under the Union of India,” the petition said.

    Palande further claimed that the allegations that Deshmukh, the then home minister, had a role in the transfer of police personnel is incorrect as the chief minister has control over the same and it is done on the recommendation of the Police Establishment Board.

    The petition further said that Palande has been in government service since 1998 and has an unblemished record.

    The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI lodged an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of his official position.

    Apart from Palande, the ED has also arrested one Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh’s personal assistant) in the case.

    The agency claimed that while serving as the state home minister, Deshmukh had allegedly misused his position and collected through Waze Rs 4.70 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

    The money was then allegedly laundered by the accused persons to a Nagpur-based trust ‘Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan’, an educational trust controlled by Deshmukh’s family members.

  • Deshmukh’s aides grilled in extortion case; NIA arrests Sachin Waze’s associate

    By Express News Service
    MUMBAI: The CBI on Sunday questioned two personal staffers of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with the allegations of extortion leveled against him by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh.

    Deshmukh’s personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande appeared before the CBI team in connection with its ongoing preliminary enquiry at the DRDO guest house in Santacruz.

    Parambir Singh, in his explosive letter, had claimed that Palande was present when Deshmukh had allegedly asked Sachin Waze to extort Rs 100 crore each month from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Waze, too, in his statement to the NIA had claimed that Shinde was present during one such conversation. Waze has since been arrested by the NIA in the Antilia bomb scare case.

    The CBI has so far recorded the statements of Singh, Sachin Waze, DCP Raju Bhujbal, ACP Sanjay Patil, advocate Jayshree Patil, a petitioner, and hotel owner Mahesh Shetty. Singh had moved the Bombay High Court after he was shunted out as the Mumbai Police Commissioner and dissed by Deshmukh.

    Taking note of the serious ness of the allegations, the HC had ordered a preliminary enquiry into the case by CBI and set a 15-day deadline for its report. Hours after the April 5 HC order, Deshmukh had resigned from the cabinet.

    Meanwhile, the NIA on Sunday arrested police officer Riyaz Kazi, an associate of suspended cop Sachin Waze, in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, a police official said.

    After his arrest, Kazi was produced before a holiday court here which remanded him in the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) custody till April 16 for further probe into the case.

    “Assistant police inspector (API) Kazi was called for questioning again by the NIA on Sunday and later placed under arrest,” the police official said.

    He was previously also questioned multiple times by the NIA in connection with the case of the SUV with explosives found near Ambani’s multi-storey residence ‘Antilia’ in south Mumbai on February 25 and the subsequent death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.

    Kazi was shunted out of the Mumbai Crime Branch last month, the official said.

    After Kazi was presented in the court on Sunday, the NIA told the court that he was arrested for destroying evidences and that he is involved in the conspiracy of the case along with Waze, the main accused in the case.

    While seeking his remand for 10 days, the prosecution said that when the NIA startedconducting a parallel probe soon after explosives-laden vehicle was found, the accused allegedly killed Hiran fearing that he will disclose their plan.

    The prosecution also submitted that Kazi was well aware of the crime.

    After the case was transferred to the central agency, the accused started destroying evidences like CPU and DVR and others, the NIA told the court.

    Kazi’s custody is required to confront him with every recovered article, documents, witnesses.

    Waze has given half the facts andKazi’s interrogation iss required to find out under whose guidance he destroyed the evidence, it said.

    He also needs to be interrogated about the source of the gelatin sticks (found in the SUV).

    Opposing the remand plea, Kazi’s lawyer, Hasnain Kazi, argued that his client was not involved in the destruction of evidence.

    The accused has been going to the NIA office for interrogation since the last20 days and co-operating with theinvestigation, hence his custody was not required, the lawyer said.

    After hearing both the sides, the judge remanded the accused to NIA’s custody till April 16.

    According to police, in a CCTV footage, Kazi was seen entering a number plates shop in suburban Vikhroli and having a conversation with the outlet’s owner.

    He was also seen taking away a digital video recorder and a computer of the shop.

    Kazi was also seen collecting CCTV footage from Waze’s housing complex in neighbouring Thane, the official said.

    The probe agency suspects that Kazi assisted Waze in obtaining fake number plates used for the SUV found with explosives near Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai, he said.

    Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV, was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5.

    The NIA arrested Waze on March 13 in connection with its probe into the case.

    The probe agency had also arrested former policeman Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Gor.

    All the three are currently in judicial custody.

    (With PTI Inputs)