Earlier this week, a Mumbai court quashed central probe agency Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea that sought attachment of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel's properties worth over rupees 180 crore. The investigation was reportedly was in connection with a money laundering case concerning alleged illegal assets of late Iqbal Mirchi, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
On June 3, the order was passed by an Appellate Tribunal that deals with the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA.
According to the appellate tribunal, ED's action against NCP leader Praful Patel was 'illegal'. As per the report, Patel's properties including at least seven flats in Mumbai's Ceejay House owned by Patel, his wife Varsha, and their company Millennium Developers were not associated with money laundering or linked to Iqbal Mirchi who was an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. He died in 2013.
What were the allegations made by ED?
EC in it's plea mentioned that Patel’s Millennium Developers Pvt Ltd constructed a building called Ceejay House in Mumbai in 2006-07 and its third and fourth floors were transferred to Mirchi’s wife Hazra Iqbal Memon.
The probe agency further mentioned that the properties were allegedly acquired from Iqbal Mirchi's widow through “illegal transactions” such as from the proceeds of crime of money laundering, drug trafficking, and alleged extortion crimes.
CBI's corruption case against Patel closed
Besides ED, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well closed a corruption case involving Patel in March this year. This development came shortly after Patel joined hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) following a vertical split in the NCP.
