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Maharashtra

Bombay HC rejects Nawab Malik’s plea seeking release from custody

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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik seeking his release from judicial custody after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money-laundering case arising out of a tainted land deal around 20 years ago.

Malik, 62, arrested by the ED on February 23, contended the central agency’s arrest and subsequent remand was “illegal”, without jurisdiction and sought setting aside the order of the Special PMLA Court which sent him to ED custody.

His legal team of Rashmikant & Partners argued that the illegal acts of the ED rendered his continued detention illegal and without jurisdiction, entitling him to a writ of habeas corpus and immediate release.

However, a division bench of Justice P.B. Varale and Justice S.M. Modak, which declined Malik’s plea, said that certain debatable issues are raised and which need to be heard at length.

At the hearings, Malik’s lawyer, senior advocate Amit Desai argued that Malik had implicated in the case which was based on statements by persons with no credibility, and the financial transactions alleged against the Minister ranged from 1999 to 2003 to 2005 when the Prevention of Money Laundering Act did not exist.

Desai reiterated that PMLA was applied retrospectively by arresting Malik in a 22-year-old case and sought his immediate release given the present circumstances of the case.

Opposition the plea, ED’s counsel, Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh questioned the maintainability of Malik’s plea, saying that the remand order was after careful consideration of all material evidence and submissions before the Special PMLA Court, money-laundering was an separate offence on which the Section 45 of the PMLA is applicable, and demanded the plea should be dismissed.

According to the ED, Malik had purchased a property, Goawala Compound in Kurla at a throwaway rate, through the power of attorney holder Sardar Shahawali Khan, currently in jail for the March 12, 1993 serial blasts case, and Salim Patel, a henchman for the late Hasina Parkar, the sister of absconding mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has vehemently demanded that Malik should resign from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s ministry or should be sacked.

disaster

Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

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Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

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Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

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Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

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Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

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Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

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