The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has opposed the plea by former home minister Anil Deshmukh’s wife, Aarti, challenging the provisional attachment of assets in alleged money laundering case.
The ED, in its affidavit filed on Monday, opposes the maintainability of the petition stating that the issued raised in the petition can be raised before the Adjudicating Authority which is seized of the issue pertaining to the attachment of assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sriram Shirsat, advocate for the ED told the division bench of justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar that the investigating agency has raised preliminary issue with regard to the maintainability of the petition.
The affidavit further says that the Act provides for statutory mechanisms to agitate the issue before adjudicating authority.
Further, the adjudicating authority has concluded the hearing and closed the matter for order, said ED.
The HC, on December 10, had permitted the adjudicating authority to hear and pass final orders on the provisional attachment of Deshmukh’s assets and his wife Aarti, but restrained it from taking any coercive action till January 10, 2022.
The order was passed on a plea by Aarti challenging the provisional attachment. Deshmukh is currently in judicial custody in the case.
Aarti’s lawyers, senior advocate Vikram Chaudhri and advocate Inderpal Singh, contended that the authority is supposed to include a chairperson and two members, one of whom has to be mandatorily from law background, which is not being followed.
However, the additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the ED, contended that the single member adjudicating authority had powers to hear the proceedings as per law.
The HC has kept the plea for hearing on January 19.
