The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed a special court on Wednesday that the property deal, in connection with which Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik has been arrested, is a “continuing” offence since the property is still in use. Malik’s lawyers, opposing his remand, told the court that since the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act was not in effect when the deal was done in 1999, he could not be charged retrospectively under the Act. Hours after ED officials reached Malik’s residence early on Wednesday morning, the minister, dressed in a white kurta-pyjama, was produced before the special court in the Mumbai city civil and sessions court. He stepped into the witness box following which Special Judge R K Rokade asked Malik if he had any complaints against the ED. “They (ED officials) came to my residence and forcefully took me to the ED office. I was delivered summons there and was later told that I was being put under arrest,” Malik told the court. He remained seated in the witness box for the rest of the arguments, which lasted for over three hours. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh sought 14-day custody of Malik - the maximum possible - stating that probe in ED cases take time and the agency did not want to bother the court again for his further custody. Explaining to the court the property deal in question, Singh then proceeded to read out from the remand application of the ED. He claimed that Malik had connived with Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, Haseena Parkar, and others to “usurp” the land from its owners. “The property is still being used, it is being considered for development. The property that was bought illegally becomes legal because so much time has passed? It is a continuing offence since the land is still in use. Nobody knew that this Act (PMLA) will come in the future is not a ground that he (Malik) can now use it in his favour because the offence is still ongoing and it amounts to money-laundering,” Singh said. Senior counsel Amit Desai, representing Malik, told the court that the minister was arrested without being given an opportunity to join the probe. “He is a sitting minister. He was available for the probe. The gentleman can be seen tweeting every day. He would have joined the probe if he was asked, and would have provided you with documents. What was the need to arrest?” Desai said. Referring to the remand plea stating that Malik is “guilty” of the offences under PMLA, Desai said that the ED had, based only on suspicion, pronounced him guilty. “In three hours when he was in their custody, 20 years of his public life had been subsumed into such a serious crime. Courts take years to determine guilt; the ED officer has said that he has reached the conclusion of his guilt? What is the need for courts then?” Desai said. He also questioned the arrest in the case over 20 years after the land deal and also the timing of the NIA’s FIR against Dawood Ibrahim filed earlier this month based on which the ED registered its case. After Malik was remanded to ED custody till March 3, his counsels sought to allow him home food, medicines and access to a lawyer. The court will hear the pleas on Thursday.
