Vasai Virar land scam case: Bombay HC declares ED’s arrest of former VVCMC Commissioner ‘illegal’, orders his release

The court ordered Pawar’s release subject to conditions and refused ED’s request to stay the operation of its order.

“As a result, the petition succeeds to the extent that the arrest of the petitioner on August 13, 2025, is held illegal. Orders (arrest and remand) passed by the designated special judge are quashed and set aside. The petitioner shall be released on production of the copy of this order,” the HC held, and also rejected ED’s request to stay its order.

The central agency, on August 13, arrested Pawar, Y S Reddy, the suspended officer who was the deputy director of town planning of VVCMC, along with Sitaram Gupta, a former corporator of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi party who is in the construction business, and his nephew Arun Gupta. The ED, probing alleged bribes for approvals given for illegal construction, has claimed that the total proceeds of crime amount to Rs 300.92 crore, of which Rs 169 crore is allegedly linked to Pawar.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad observed that there was “no tangible material” with the central agency against Pawar at the time of his arrest. The HC held that there was “no material on record to show that proceeds of crime generated by the sale of illegal 41 buildings have reached the petitioner.”

‘You shouldn’t go on arresting people like this’: Court to ED

“What is the necessity for arrest? Merely because a power exists to arrest, you should not go on arresting people like this,” the Bench had orally remarked during an earlier hearing.

The court was hearing Pawar’s plea seeking a declaration that his arrest by ED was “illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional,” and urging that all proceedings initiated against him be set aside.

Pawar also requested the quashing of the remand order dated August 14 issued by a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), along with directions for his immediate release. Additionally, the petition sought an order restraining the ED from investigating matters where no scheduled offence had been registered.

According to the ED, Pawar and Reddy, both officials of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC), had issued commencement certificates in urban and green zone areas covering an area of about 550 lakh square feet, equivalent to roughly 55,000 residential units of 1,000 square feet each.

Senior advocates Rajiv Shakdher and Sudeep Pasbola, along with advocate Ujjwalkumar Chavhan, representing Pawar, argued that he “was not involved at the time of the alleged offence” and that “no FIR, either directly or indirectly, has been registered against him in any police station.” Consequently, they contended, there was no predicate or scheduled offence forming the basis of the ED’s investigation. The plea further asserted that Pawar had not received any funds that could be categorized as proceeds of crime.

Referring to ED’s allegation that the petitioner received over Rs 17.75 crore from Reddy, an amount allegedly routed through a distant relative, the counsel argued that the claim was “vague,” lacking details such as “date, time, or the identity of the relative.” The amount itself, they said, was non-specific.

The petition maintained that he could not be prosecuted under the PMLA with “no unbroken money trail leading to the petitioner.”

On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh for ED opposed the plea and said that it has recorded statements of architects and builders which corroborated Reddy’s statements. Singh also argued that there cannot be a mini-trial in the matter or a review on merits of the matter while the plea was only alleging illegal arrest. Singh submitted that the agency’s officers had the power to arrest Pawar, and he could have sought a remedy through a regular bail plea.