Maharashtra ex-minister Nawab Malik gets bail on medical grounds
The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday granted interim bail to former Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik for two months on medical grounds. He was arrested in February last year in connection with a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi clarified that the bail was not granted on merits but on health grounds.
Malik in hospital for kidney disease: SC
In its official order, the bench said, "He (Malik) is in hospital for kidney disease and ailments. Let counter affidavit be filed to the main petition within five weeks and rejoinder and thereafter in 3 weeks. List after 10 weeks. Bail granted." "We are passing the order strictly on medical conditions and have not entered merits," Bar and Bench quoted the order as saying.
Malik was arrested back in February last year
In February 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) apprehended the former Maharashtra minister, alleging that he usurped a property in East Mumbai's Kurla with the help of Haseena Parkar, the late sister of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, between 1999-2006. Furthermore, the ED also claimed that since Parkar handled Dawood's illegal businesses, the money was ultimately used to fund terrorism.
Details on ED's probe against Malik
It should also be noted that the central probe agency's case against Malik is based on an FIR registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The NIA's FIR included the names of Dawood and his close aides, Chhota Shakeel, aka Shakeel Shaikh Babu Moiuddin, and Tigar Memon, aka Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razzaq Memon.
Bombay HC denied bail to Malik in July this year
Earlier in July, the Bombay High Court denied him bail, saying that his right to life wasn't infringed as he had been getting "specialized medical assistance." Moreover, the court stated he wasn't suffering from any critical illness. However, his legal team claims that Malik's health has deteriorated over the past months and he is suffering from stage 2 to 3 chronic kidney disease.
