The Bombay High Court on Monday extended till March 23 the interim protection for ‘no coercive action’ against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case connected to alleged irregularities involving a resort at Dapoli in coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.
Parab, a former state minister, had filed a petition in the high court seeking to quash the ED case and had sought interim protection from arrest.
On March 14, a bench headed by Justice Revati Mohite Dere posted the plea for hearing on March 20 and accepted the oral assurance given by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, appearing for ED, that no coercive action would be taken against Parab till then.
On Monday, the bench headed by Justice Dere was not available, following which Parab’s counsel Amit Desai mentioned the matter before another division bench headed by Justice G S Kulkarni.
Desai requested that the interim protection of no coercive action be extended for a few more days.
ASG Singh said his earlier oral assurance can be continued till March 23.
The bench accepted Singh’s assurance and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday before the bench headed by Justice Dere.
According to the ED, Pune resident Vibhas Sathe had purchased agricultural land at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district in 2011.
He sold the land to Parab in 2017 for Rs 1.80 crore, although the sale deed was executed in 2019.
The anti-money laundering agency claimed that out of the total deal amount, Rs 80 lakh was paid in cash, which was handed over to Sathe by Parab’s aide Sadanand Kadam on behalf of Parab.
Subsequently, Sai Resort was constructed on the said plot in Dapoli and Parab sold it to Kadam.
The ED alleged Parab and Kadam had made Sathe make an application to convert the land usage from agricultural to non-agricultural.
“Kadam had pressured Revenue department officials and obtained illegal permission on September 12, 2017,” the ED said.
Apart from this, “Kadam in connivance with Parab caused detrimental damage to the environment by constructing Sai Resort”, the ED added.
This is because of the absence of any sewage and other municipal or such outlets for the safe discharge of effluent, owing to the illegal construction of the said resort, causing great damage to the environment and ecology of the seashore, it said.
