MUMBAI: Former revenue minister Eknath Khadse’s son-in-law, Girish Chaudhari, has filed a bail plea before the special court stating that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is not applicable in his case and he is being targeted “due to political reasons”.
The court will hear the bail applica1tion next week.
Chaudhari’s ED custody ended on Tuesday and he has been remanded in jail custody.
Meanwhile, the ED has recorded the statement of a crucial witness in the case who helped Chaudhari to legitimise his Rs 2 crore cash with the help of shell companies to purchase a plot of land owned by the state government agency, MIDC.
Chaudhari showed that he took Rs 2 crore loan from Benchmark Buildcon Pvt Ltd, a shell company, for purchasing the land. The witness gave the ED all details after which the officials confronted Chaudhari with the statement on Monday. Chaudhari denied the witness’s claim in his further statement to the ED.
The land deal was illegal as the government already had acquired it from the original landowner in 1971.
