4 months ago
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Days aft Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his kin were discharged successful a wealth laundering lawsuit concerning the alleged multi-crore Maharashtra Sadan scam and different cases, Social activistic Anjali Damania has written to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, seeking suspension of the bid of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) tribunal owed to alleged “mistakes concerning predicate offences”.
“The impugned bid proceeds connected the incorrect presumption that the instauration of the prosecution nary longer exists, thereby it undermines the intent of PIL No. 23/ 2014, nullifying years of probe ordered by the Court and besides mounting a precedent that large-scale corruption tin beryllium defeated by piecemeal discharges,” said Anjali Damania, requesting the Court to enactment the cognition and effect of the impugned order.
Ms. Damania is the archetypal petitioner and complainant successful Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 23, which raises corruption allegations against Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is alleged to person acted illegally. It mentions Mr. Bhujbal and his family’s engagement successful fraudulent allotment of the New Maharashtra Sadan project, New Delhi, without tenders and by fabrication of records, acceptance of kickbacks done benami companies and relatives, transgression conspiracy successful the Central Library, Kalina project, cheating successful Hexworld Housing Project, Navi Mumbai, and laundering done existent property entities and ammunition companies.
Also Read: Maharashtra Sadan scam, Charge expanse filed against Bhujbal
In the missive addressed to the Chief Justice of Bombay HC, she stated, The PIL No. 23 of was the genesis of the full transgression prosecution. By bid dated 18 December 2014, the Court was pleased to represent a Special Investigation Team comprising the Director General, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Mumbai, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to inquire into the allegations and taxable a report.
On Friday (January 23, 2026), Mr. Bhujbal was discharged of the allegations connected the grounds that determination was “no procreation of proceeds of crime”. Special Judge Satyanarayan R. Navander stated, “When determination were nary proceeds of crime, nary question of its layering oregon siphoning further arises.” However, Ms. Damania stated to situation the tribunal bid successful the High Court connected grounds that the little tribunal had “erred successful passing the bid successful question.”
In the missive dated January 24, she pointed out that the 3 FIRs were filed successful the lawsuit pursuing the orders passed during the hearings of PIL No. 23. The archetypal is FIR related to New Maharashtra Sadan case, accused booked for offences nether the Prevention of Corruption Act, 198, the 2nd FIR successful lawsuit Central Library, Kalina case, alleging amerciable gratification of ₹2.5 crores, and the 3rd FIR registered with EOW is related to Hexworld Housing Project ( cheating of 2344 level purchasers and postulation of approx. ₹44.04 crores)
“All the FIRs collectively represent the predicate/scheduled offences for proceedings nether the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,” she stated.
Ms. Damania emphasised that predicate offences are not over, and the bid passed is based connected an error. She cited the reasons, specified arsenic a pending proceedings successful the Central Library, and said, “Enforcement Directorate itself has recorded that further prosecution nether PMLA would travel upon completion of probe successful this FIR.” Other reasons are that discharge successful 1 FIR does not extinguish different scheduled offences arising from the aforesaid PIL, arsenic each FIR is autarkic and survives connected its ain footing, and nether Section 3 of the PMLA, wealth laundering is simply a continuing offence.
