Mumbai: A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002) court on Friday permitted Maharashtra minority development minister Nawab Malik to be shifted to a private hospital in Kurla for treatment.
The order came after the special court was informed by Malik’s lawyer that JJ Hospital had made them run from one hospital to another for several procedures and pathological examinations, perhaps because the state-run hospital either did not have the department concerned or proper equipment to conduct all requisite tests.
When the court sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency’s counsel said they did not have any objection to Malik being referred to other hospitals for tests. The ED had, however, opposed the NCP leader’s plea, claiming all requisite facilities were available at JJ Hospital.
The court then allowed Malik, presently lodged at Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai, to be shifted to Criti Care Hospital, Kurla, for treatment and also allowed his daughter to remain present and attend to him during his stay at the hospital.
The 63-year-old minister had on April 28 moved the special court for a six-week temporary bail on medical grounds, claiming that he had been suffering from kidney-related complications due to the formation of a renal cyst and the JJ Hospital has recommended that he undergo surgery.
ED arrested Malik on February 23 in connection with a money laundering case registered against fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and some of his close aides on February 14. The money laundering case is based on an FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on February 3, 2022, against the gang.
ED claimed Nawab Malik had usurped a prime property — Goawala Compound at Kurla, spread over three acres and valued at about ₹300 crore at the current market price — originally owned by one Munira Plumber through Solidus Investments, in active connivance with Haseena Parkar, the late sister of Dawood Ibrahim, and had indirectly provided funds for the gang.
The NCP leader has, however, rubbished the allegations and claimed that a family firm had purchased Goawala Compound from Munira Plumber’s power of attorney holder Mohd Salim Ishaq Patel, a purported frontman of Haseena Parkar, and the transaction was backed by valid documents.
No relief for Anil Deshmukh
The special court on Friday rejected a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to be shifted to a private hospital for undergoing surgery.
Claiming that he had a history of weak shoulder girdle with recurrent painful dislocations, Deshmukh had said in his application that he had a fall in Arthur Road jail and dislocated his shoulder. Besides, he had various spine and urine-related issues, for which he was admitted to JJ Hospital on April 2 and was “currently experiencing excruciating pain and medically advised to undergo the necessary surgery.”
He claimed he also had heart-related ailments and uncontrolled high blood pressure, too. “The applicant states that he has been experiencing chest pains, breathlessness, heart problems with abnormal ECG findings, which indicate less blood supply to the heart and a possibility of heart block episode,” read his plea.
Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 2, 2021, on allegations of money laundering. ED’s case against the NCP leader is based on the FIR registered by the CBI on April 21, 2021, which in turn was based on the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
