Former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik filed his first regular bail plea before a special court on Tuesday. The special court has asked the Enforcement Directorate to file its reply to the plea by July 15.
Malik, who is currently in judicial custody, was arrested on February 23 under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the ED in connection with a probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
Supreme Court denies temporary bail to Nawab Malik
Earlier, the Supreme Court had declined the plea of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh, who were seeking temporary release from prison to cast their votes in the Maharashtra Legislative Council election.
However, a vacation bench of Justices C T Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and others involved in the case. The court agreed to examine the issue relating to the interpretation of Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act 1951, which bars jailed persons from voting.
Bombay High Court denies NCP leaders bail
The Bombay High Court had on June 17 rejected the NCP leaders' plea seeking temporary release from prison for casting their ballots saying the constitutional right to vote is not absolute.
Malik, who is still a cabinet minister in the state, and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, both of whom are in prison after being arrested in separate money laundering and corruption cases, had sought the court's permission to be let out of custody "for a few hours," and "under escort protection" to vote.
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