Mumbai: No relief for former minister Anil Deshmukh's son

Mumbai: Hrishikesh Deshmukh, son of former home minister Anil Deshmukh, did not get reprieve from the special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday which is hearing his pre arrest bail.

Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the case, has alleged that Hrishikesh has not been cooperating with the investigation and hence they are opposing his pre arrest bail.

On Tuesday, additional solicitor general Anil Singh was not available for arguments on behalf of ED and hence the special court kept Hrishikesh’s plea hearing on September 29.

Hrishikesh had filed pre arrest bail last November alleging that the probe being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him and his father in a money laundering case is a witch-hunt by the ruling party at the Centre with the objective of toppling the Maharashtra government.

His plea stated that the entire proceedings against him and his father were motivated by malice and had commenced in a shady manner.

The entire investigation was a "witch-hunt campaign” launched at the instance of some blatantly false allegations by persons like dismissed cop Sachin Waze and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, the plea stated.

He had further contended that the allegations had been “planted by the political ruling parties (at the Centre)” to malign the applicant and his father with the object of “changing the State government”.

Published on: Wednesday, September 14, 2022, 12:03 AM IST