Mumbai: The special court that denied bail to NCP leader Nawab Malik last week in a money-laundering case said in its order that there was evidence to suggest a conspiracy involving him, Dawood Ibrahim’s sister and her associate to grab a plot of land at Kurla (West).
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Mr Malik conspired with the Dawood gang to usurp the prime property belonging to Munira Plumber and its acquisition is “proceeds of crime” under the anti-money laundering law.
The market value of the property at the time was Rs3.3 crore but Mr Malik paid Rs20 lakh to the person who was given the power of attorney by Ms Plumber. The acquisition was done from extortion and other illegal activities, the agency said.
In its order, the special court said, “Prima facie there is evidence to indicate there was a conspiracy between the deceased Haseena Parkar [Dawood’s sister], Salim Patel [her associate] and the applicant [Mr Malik] to grab land.”
It added that Ms Parkar was managing the land through Mr Patel. Referring to the 1993 Bombay blasts convict Sardar Khan, who is a co-accused in the case, it said he also appeared to be part of the conspiracy and for his assistance got a covered area of 378 sq m. from Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, of which Mr Malik is a director.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the land was sold without Ms Plumber’s knowledge through Mr Patel, who was holding the power of attorney, to Mr Malik’s firm.
Special Judge RN Rokade of the court which deals with cases against legislators further said Mr Malik knew Ms Parkar and Mr Patel were involved in the land and it was seen from the statements of witnesses that both were indulging in extortion, land-grabbing, settlements and other illegal activities.
Mr Malik’s advocate had argued that Mr Khan was a Bombay blasts convict and not a credible witness, besides being a co-accused.
The court agreed that the statement of a co-accused is a weak piece of evidence but said it can be taken into consideration to supplement other evidence available on record.
