NCP leader Eknath Khadse's wife Mandakini Khadse will appear before the Directorate of Enforcement office today for inquiry in a case related to the Pune land scam, ANI reported.
Protection by Bombay HC to Eknath Khadse's wife from arrest till December 7 in Pune land deal case
In a relief for Mandakini Khadse, wife of former state revenue minister and NCP leader Eknath Khadse, the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest, till December 7. The HC has however ordered her to cooperate with the probe and appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whenever asked for.
A single-judge bench of Justice Nitin Sambre was hearing the anticipatory bail plea filed by Mandakini, one of the prime accused in the Pune land deal case.
Mandakini had approached the bench following a non-bailable warrant issued against her by a special court designated to hear cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The special court had issued the warrant on Tuesday after she failed to appear before it.
What is the Pune land scam case?
Notably, Khadse, his wife, and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary have been named by the ED in its charge sheet filed in the land deal case. As per the ED, Khadse had misused his office as a revenue minister while in the then BJP government.
ED claims that Khadse gave directions to officials to acquire the land when he was not in charge of MIDC. Within 15 days, the land was purchased by his kin - Chaudhari and his mother-in-law and Khadse’s wife Mandakini, for Rs 3.75 crores when the market price of the land as per government records was Rs 31 crores in 2016 when the deal took place.
(With agency inputs)
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)