The Bombay High Court (HC) has extended the interim protection from arrest for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Minister Hasan Mushrif until August 22. The protection was granted in connection with an FIR registered against him at Kolhapur, which initiated a money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
During the next hearing, the HC has asked for a report indicating the progress in the investigation and has requested the Investigating Officer to be present in court. Hasan Mushrif, a part of the Ajit Pawar-led faction of NCP, was sworn in as a cabinet minister on July 2.
Mushrif had filed a petition to quash the ECIR registered by the ED and requested protection until the petition was decided. The division bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Rajesh Laddha accepted the submissions and extended the protection until August 22. They also called for a report on the progress of the investigation.
The FIR against Mushrif was filed for allegedly duping investors who had invested ₹10,000 more than ten years ago in the Sarsenapati Santaji Ghorpade Sugar Factory Ltd (SSSSGSFL) in 2011. The complaint stated that investors were not given any share certificates.
The ED claims that Mushrif and his family members created multiple webs of companies owned by family members and relatives. They introduced share capital into M/s SSGSFL in the initial years and used the funds for the construction of the factory and the purchase of plant and machinery. Later, they transferred the funds collected from farmers to shell companies to acquire shareholding from paper companies.
Mushrif’s counsel argued that although his name was not mentioned in the complaint to the Registrar of Companies, it was mentioned in the FIR registered in Kolhapur at the behest of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, who incited an investor to lodge the complaint.
The HC had previously granted interim protection to Mushrif and directed the Principal District Judge (PDJ), Pune to inquire how Somaiya, who was not a party to the proceedings, managed to obtain a copy of the order even before the parties involved received it.
The HC has continuously extended the protection granted to Mushrif, and the investigation is under scrutiny. The case against Mushrif involves allegations of duping investors, and the ED is conducting a money laundering probe based on the FIR. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 22.
