Sachin Vaze. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A special court in Mumbai on Friday granted bail to a dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze in an alleged money laundering case against the former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh.
A special judge for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases R.N. Rokade granted him bail, however, Mr. Vaze will not be walking out of the Taloja Central jail as he is an accused in the bomb scare case near businessman Mukesh Ambani’s residence and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran.
The court had allowed his second bail petition on the grounds that he was never arrested in the case under PMLA and that Mr. Deshmukh had also been granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 4.
The case dates back to March 20, 2021, when former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Mr. Deshmukh of abusing his position and powers to seek illegal monetary benefits. The letter alleged instances of Mr Deshmukh directing Mr Vaze and others to collect Rs 100 crores from bars and restaurants over a month.
The High Court on April 5, 2021, had directed a preliminary inquiry against Mr. Deshmukh by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Soon thereafter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped in and started conducting a probe into allegations of money laundering against Mr Deshmukh. As per ED, Mr. Deshmukh had allegedly routed ₹10.30 crore to various paper companies through an educational charitable trust in Nagpur – Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan.
On April 21, 2021, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Mr. Deshmukh under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
