Mumbai: Court permits medical test for Nawab Malik

A special court on Tuesday permitted the plea of NCP leader Nawab Malik to undergo a medical test for his kidney ailment.

The court had directed the jail superintendent of Arthur Road jail to take the politician to a diagnostic centre in Ghatkopar for the purpose at his own expense. Malik has been admitted at a private hospital in Kurla due to his medical situation.

Malik was arrested in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Feb this year. As per the agency’s case, Malik had engaged in money laundering and funded the terror network of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim by usurping the Kurla land of one Munira Plumber.

For doing so, it claims he had engaged in a transaction with a close associate of Dawood’s sister Haseena Parkar. Parkar used to allegedly handle illegal activities for the don in India. 

A special court is likely to pass an order on NCP leader Nawab Malik’s bail application on November 24 in a money laundering case concerning a Kurla plot.

He was “an innocent purchaser for value”

Seeking bail, Malik’s advocate had argued before the court that Plumber’s statement came up suddenly after 23 years. It was further argued that he was “an innocent purchaser for value”.

It was also pointed out that the ED had relied on the statement of Sardar Khan - a convict in the 1993 Bombay blasts. “The investigating agency did not find any other witness, that they went to a convict in bomb blast case, whereas Malik has been a representative of people for the past 40 years,” the advocate had argued. 

The ED had opposes bail

The ED had opposed bail to Malik and argued that Malik had attended meetings pertaining to who should control the usurped land. It said the plot was controlled by Malik through a company called Solidus Investment.

The agency alleges that an amount of Rs. 55 lakhs was paid illegally for the land and fell under ‘proceeds of crime’ under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).