Maharashtra Minister Urges Court To Quash Arrest Citing Rights Violation
NDTV
Nawab Malik's counsel argued that provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had been applied in the present case against the NCP leader retrospectively.
Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Tuesday urged the Bombay High Court to set aside his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate claiming it violated his fundamental right to life and liberty.
Mr Malik's counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, told the High Court the NIA was trying to connect the minister with gangster Dawood Ibrahim and cases related to the fugitive, even though his client had nothing to do with them.
"My remand paper deals all with the Dawood gang even though I am not related to it. They (ED) have tried to suggest that on Feb 3, 2022, they had registered an FIR against Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar. It goes into folklore around Dawood and into incidents going back to 30 years ago," Mr Desai said.
"They say they registered an ECIR on February 14 this year, and two other FIRS of 2017 with which I (Malik) am not concerned. But they are trying to suggest that there is a predicate offence with which I am concerned," Mr Desai told court.
