In a relief to senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal,
the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea of the Enforcement Directorate
challenging the bail granted to him in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan
however rejected Bhujbal's plea challenging his arrest in the matter saying the
petitioner was released on bail in 2018, and it was not necessary to go into
the question of illegality of his arrest at the present stage.
"Impugned orders granting bail have been passed
way back in the year 2018. Therefore no case for interference is made out at
this stage under Article 136 of the Constitution. The SLPs are dismissed,"
it held.
The Bombay High Court on May 4, 2018, granted bail
to Bhujbal in the money laundering case.
The former Maharashtra deputy chief minister was
arrested after an ED inquiry revealed he and his associates had allegedly
misused their office and caused financial loss to the government.
According to the ED, Bhujbal awarded contracts
related to construction and development works, including one for the
construction of the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, to a particular firm, in
return for kickbacks for himself and his family.
Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal used to
channel such money to illegal companies owned by them, alleged the central
probe agency.