The
Supreme Court on Tuesday made 'absolute' its earlier order granting interim
medical bail to NCP leader Nawab Malik in a money laundering case.
A
bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma made the interim
bail permanent, subject to conditions set by the special court.
The
interim bail was made absolute or permanent till disposal of the regular bail
plea filed by him before the Bombay High Court.
Counsel
appearing for Malik told the bench that his client is suffering from various
ailments and his one lung has collapsed.
Additional
Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED),
didn't oppose the plea for interim bail and said that the interim medical bail
may be made permanent.
Malik
has been on interim medical bail since August 2023.
In
August 2023, the top court granted Malik interim bail on medical grounds for
two months, which was extended by three months in October. The apex court has
been extending his interim bail from time to time.
Malik
had earlier approached the apex court against a Bombay High Court order, which
rejected the temporary medical bail plea.
Malik,
while seeking bail on health grounds, had claimed before the top court earlier
that he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease, apart from various other
ailments.
The
Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested Malik in February 2022, alleging that
he usurped a property in Kurla with the help of Dawood Ibrahim's late sister
Haseena Parkar between 1999-2006.
ED
alleged that since Parkar handled Dawood's illegal businesses, the money was
ultimately used for terror funding.