A special court in Mumbai framed charges against former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik in a money laundering case linked to activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides after he pleaded not guilty.
The Special Judge for MPs/MLAs cases, SR Navander, stated that there was "sufficient material on record" to proceed with the trial under Section 3, read with Section 70, of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Malik of conspiring with the key members of Dawood Ibrahim's gang -- his sister Haseena Parkar, her associate Salim Patel, and 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Sardar Khan -- to launder assets derived from a Kurla property, known as the Goawala Compound.
The court also dismissed a discharge application filed by Malik's firms, Malik Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, which argued that the Enforcement Directorate's case was based on "guesses and conjectures".
Despite Malik's argument that Malik Infrastructure only came into existence in 2010-11 and could not be held liable for earlier transactions, the court rejected the plea, noting that Malik himself is a "controlling mind" of the company.
According to the court order, the power of attorney for the land was forged, and the property was unlawfully transferred to Solidus, which is controlled by Malik's family.
The court highlighted that rent collected from the disputed property by both Solidus Investments and Malik Infrastructure constituted "proceeds of crime" under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA.
The property in question originally belonged to two women, Munira Plumber and Marium Goawala. The court observed that documents relied upon by the ED included allegedly forged powers of attorney, as well as a leave-and-licence agreement and a declaration related to the Kurla compound.
Sardar Khan, the fourth accused, is currently serving a life sentence in Amravati jail in connection with the 1993 Bombay blasts case; the court will frame separate charges against him.
Malik's defence counsel had earlier sought a delay, citing a pending writ petition in the Bombay High Court and claiming that the ED had suppressed documents favourable to the defence, but the court refused to defer the proceedings.
The ED had arrested Malik in February 2022 in connection with the case. He is currently on medical bail, granted by the Supreme Court.
