Arrested NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal to be produced in court -Governance Now

Arrested NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal to be produced in court

After grilling Bhujbal for over nine hours, the ED arrested him in a money laundering case

Geetanjali Minhas | March 15, 2016 | Mumbai

#bhujbal money laundering #enforcement directorate #Chhagan Bhujbal #Maharashtra Sadan scam

NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal

Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who was arrested on Monday evening by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), will be produced in a special PMLA court today. Since he is a sitting MLA, information of his arrest will be communicated to the speaker of the Maharashtra assembly.

After grilling Bhujbal for over nine hours, the ED arrested him in a money laundering case, which the agency claims caused a loss of Rs 870 crore to the exchequer.

The ED is probing alleged kickback received by Bhujbal and his family members for awarding government projects to select contractors through companies owned by his family. These contracts were awarded from November 2004 to September 2014 when Bhujbal was that state PWD minister.

As per the ED, Bhujbal was non-committal on the sources of cash and claimed that the decision to award contracts during his tenure as PWD minister was taken by the cabinet sub-committee. “He was non-committal on the sources of cash. Since his answers were unsatisfactory, we arrested him,” said an ED officer.

According to the agency, Bhujbal was questioned on large sums of cash, allegedly laundered with the help of hawala operators into shell companies floated by his nephew Sameer and son Pankaj. Sameer has already been arrested and lodged in Arthur Road Jail. The ED has seized passports of Bhujbal and Pankaj.

The state anti-corruption bureau has already filed a chargesheet against Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case, which was built at the cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.

ED had earlier brought out orders for attachment of three properties with an estimated worth of over Rs 280 crore in the case under money laundering laws and twice conducted searches at nine premises including properties and offices belonging to Bhujbal, Pankaj, Samir and others.

Comments

Other News

New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific strategy enters a new phase

India appears to be investing fresh dynamism in its Indo-Pacific strategy. At the time when the US, under president Donald Trump, has adopted a conciliatory approach towards China and has changed the name of America’s Indo-Pacific Command to just Pacific Command, India has quietly moved towards con

CAG flags major fiscal lapses in Maharashtra

Maharashtra`s fiscal management has come under sharp scrutiny after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its State Finances Audit Report for 2024-25, flagged significant budgetary inefficiencies, accounting irregularities, understatement of key fiscal indicators and widespread governanc

The health sector research we are not doing

Some neglect is loud. This kind is quiet. It sits in research never commissioned, data never collected, questions never asked. In South Asia, that quiet has let the region’s worst health problems stay understudied, underfunded, and out of sight of those who could act.

Study flags accessibility and last-mile challenges on Mumbai Metro Aqua Line

Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line), the city`s first fully underground metro corridor and one of its largest public transport investments, represents a major engineering achievement and has been widely welcomed by commuters. However, the overall commuter experience continues to be constrained by accessibili

Centre intensifies preparedness as El Niño threat looms

Amid uncertainty in the southwest monsoon due to the potential impact of El Niño, the government is addressing the situation with comprehensive preparedness, a clear strategy, and strong ground-level action. While challenges remain, the entire system has been activated in advance and is working proa

India is crossing a climate threshold

On June 28, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 41.3°C, four degrees above the seasonal normal. But the “feels like” temperature, which factors in humidity, showed more than 51°C. What the body experienced was very different from what the thermometer recorded. India`