New Delhi: The Supreme Court, in its order on Thursday, extended for three months the interim bail of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra Minister, Nawab Malik, on health grounds in a money laundering case.
The accused, Malik, was earlier granted bail for two months by the Top Court on August 11 on the same health grounds. The SC today extended his interim bail as his health condition has not improved and his one kidney has failed.
The Apex Court’s two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi, passed the order today and extended the interim bail for three months to accused Malik, purely on health grounds.
The Solicitor General (SG), Tushar Mehta, appearing for the probe agency, Enforcement Directorate (ED), did not object to the grant of bail to Malik on medical grounds.
The former Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader, Malik, has been in judicial custody since March 2022, accused in a money laundering case. He was initially released on interim bail for the first time on August 11 of this year.
Malik sought bail on medical grounds in the Supreme Court after his plea for the same was rejected by the Bombay High Court.
Kapil Sibal, senior lawyer for Malik, had pleaded to the court that Malik’s physical condition was serious as he suffers various kidney ailments and his right kidney’s condition is deteriorating.
Sibal also stated that Malik has been undergoing treatment for the last 20 months due to a kidney ailment.
Mehta submitted that there is no objection to bail being granted on medical grounds for a stipulated period.
The Apex Court, after going through the submissions of all the parties and taking into record of all these, extended interim bail to Malik for three months.
The ED alleged that Malik had connived with D-gang members, Ibrahim’s sister, Haseena Parker, and two others, and illegally usurped a property in Mumbai’s Kurla between 1999 and 2006.
The agency, ED, has alleged that since Parkar handled the illegal business of the notorious gangster and global terrorist, the money that Malik allegedly paid her was ultimately used for terror funding, slapping charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the former legislator.
