In Mumbai, a special court for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has rejected a plea to drop charges against former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik. The decision clears the way for the court to formally frame charges on Tuesday.
The court instructed all accused, including Malik, to be present for the upcoming proceedings. Malik’s firm, Malik Infrastructure, argued that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had built the case on “guesses and conjectures,” and claimed the company did not exist when the alleged illegal land deals happened. The judge found enough evidence to move forward, citing a preliminary probe that links Malik, Haseena Parkar, Salim Patel, and Sardar Khan—characters tied to the D‑Company—to a scheme that illegally acquired and laundered valuable land, calling the assets “proceeds of crime.”
Malik also asked the court to postpone the charge‑framing by six weeks, hoping a High‑Court hearing could push the deadline back. He said the ED had withheld documents that could help his defense and that full disclosure might negate the need for charges. His lawyer, Taraq Sayed, pressed that point. The special prosecutor, Sunil Gonsalves, replied that no stay had been granted by the High Court, so proceedings could not be halted.
The judge accepted the ED’s position and noted that both the Supreme Court and the High Court have asked for speedy processing of cases involving MPs and MLAs. With that in mind, he denied Malik’s request for a delay.
In February 2022, the ED arrested Malik for allegedly conspiring with Haseena Parkar—Dawood Ibrahim’s sister—to acquire about three acres of prime land in Mumbai’s Kurla area illegally. The ED estimates the proceeds of crime at ₹16 crore and also alleges forged documents were used. While Malik and two companies are named in the complaint, no formal charges have yet been filed. The court will frame charges against all defendants later today.
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