Special court directs ED to return passports of Anil Deshmukh's sons in PMLA case

A special court here has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to return the passports of the two sons of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, who are facing accusations in a money laundering case. The court, however, said that the duo Hrishikesh and Salil Deshmukh must not leave the country without its permission.

In permitting their requests on Wednesday, Special Court Judge R.N. Rokade, overseeing cases related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), highlighted the need for the court to assess the accused individuals' backgrounds, the nature of the offense, the requirement for their presence at the trial, and other pertinent factors.

At the same time, the court has to strike a balance between the personal liberty of the accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and the interest of the society as well as rights of the prosecution, it added. The Deshmukh brothers were arraigned as accused in the chargesheet filed by the ED. The probe agency, however, never arrested the duo.

In November 2022, they were granted bail by the special court and one of the conditions was to submit their passports to the probe agency. Advocate Inderpal Singh, while seeking modification in the bail conditions of Hrishikesh, submitted that the latter is engaged in business management and needs to attend workshops and training sessions, where he can gain practical skills and strategies for optimising business operations.

He will also attend the conference organised by a science society in Japan. The applicant has to attend the International Conference on Logics in Artificial Intelligence to learn the cutting edge developments in the field, the lawyer submitted. The central probe agency opposed their pleas, saying the case pending against them was very serious in nature and there was every likelihood of the applicants fleeing the country.

The court, however, said that merely being prosecuted under the provisions of the PMLA is not sufficient to deny the duo their passports. Apprehension of the prosecution can be addressed by imposing stringent conditions on the applicant. Having regard to the entire gamut of the circumstances, I am of the considered view that this is a fit case to grant permission to return the passport, the court added.