MUMBAI: A Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai on Tuesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to record the statement of Praful Lodha—an alleged political aide of a senior BJP leader—who is currently in judicial custody in connection with multiple criminal cases, including rape, and is named in a money-laundering investigation regarding acquisition of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
In a detailed order, additional sessions judge R B Rote noted that the ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in September 2025, stating that Lodha “purchased immovable properties in the last three to four years out of the proceeds of crime” and that “the total value of these properties was not commensurate with the income shown in his income-tax return”. The court quoted the agency’s submission that Lodha had declared an income of only “ ₹1,164 in the financial year 2023–24”.
Lodha, a 62-year-old businessman from Jamner in Jalgaon district, is considered a close associate of Maharashtra’s minister of water resources Girish Mahajan. The BJP leader represents Lodha’s home region, and opposition leaders have alleged that Lodha once had political proximity to Mahajan and was involved in controversial activities, including an alleged “honey-trap operation” that has been the subject of political allegations in Maharashtra. These claims, however, have neither been proven in court nor formally admitted by the BJP.
While Lodha is already in custody in separate FIRs registered at Pune and Mumbai police stations—including offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act—the ED sought his custodial examination under Sections 50(2) and 50(3) of the PMLA, These sections allow an investigating agency to summon a person and record their statement on oath and require production of documents relevant to an investigation.
The court noted that Lodha was lodged in Arthur Road Jail and that “the ED has requested that the statement be recorded in the said jail premises”. It directed the jail authorities to allow ED officers to record the statement between February 19 and February 27, and specified that the officers “shall be permitted to carry personal laptops/recording devices for the purpose of recording the statement”. The order added that the examination “shall be subject to compliance with all legal formalities and safeguards as provided under the PMLA and the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure”.
Lodha is an accused in multiple sexual assault cases. Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad police registered a rape FIR in July 2025 on the complaint of a woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Lodha at a Pune hotel. The complainant said that he had summoned her, promising to get her husband a job, and threatened her with dire consequences when she refused his advances.
Lodha was remanded to police custody in the case, and after the initial proceedings was transferred back to Mumbai where he was incarcerated at Arthur Road Jail in two sexual assault cases, one at Sakinaka and the other at Andheri MIDC. The FIRs stated that he had sexually abused two 16-year-old girls and a woman under the false promise of giving them employment, and had taken objectionable pictures of the minors to coerce them.