Mumbai’s special court delivered a body blow to the ED by acquitting NCP veteran Chhagan Bhujbal in the high-profile Maharashtra Sadan money laundering probe. Building on prior ACB clearance, Judge Satyanarayan Nawandar deemed the ED’s case untenable absent a predicate offense.
The court accepted discharge pleas, stating flatly: no base crime means no laundering case. This dismantles years of investigation into alleged kickbacks from a 2005 Delhi housing project contract.
Flashback to 2005: As PWD minister, Bhujbal allegedly skipped tenders to favor Chamanlal Enterprises, funneling benefits to relatives via firms. ED alleged Rs 13.5 crore in bribes, filing PMLA charges in 2015 against Bhujbal, kin, and dozens more.
The fallout was swift—10-hour ED grilling in 2016 led to arrest and 22 months behind bars. Now, with ACB’s original FIR invalidated, courts affirm PMLA’s dependency on proven corruption.
This verdict arrives amid Maharashtra’s volatile politics, potentially reviving Bhujbal’s influence in NCP. Party insiders see it as vindication against what they call vendetta probes.
Broader implications loom for similar ED cases. Legal circles buzz with talk of precedent, challenging agencies to tighten foundational evidence. For Bhujbal, it’s a hard-fought return from the brink.