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Synopsis

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed an application to intervene in the petition filed by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) leader Anil Parab’s petition to quash the FIR filed against him by the state government, which subsequently led the agency to register a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case against Anil Parab involves allegations related to the construction of a resort in a 'No Development Zone' in Dapoli.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest & Climate Change received a complaint regarding the same.

 Following the complaint, the Dapoli Police in Maharashtra filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Parab for cheating under the Indian Penal Code.

The FIR accuses him of falsifying Gram Panchayat records related to the land where the resort was constructed.

Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate initiated a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Anil Parab.

Advocates Shardul Singh and Prerna Gandhi, representing Anil Parab, opposed the Enforcement Directorate's application to intervene in the case and sought time to file a reply.

The division bench, comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Shyam Chandak, accepted the request and scheduled the matter for a hearing in January 2024.

The application filed by the agency stated that Parab seeks to put an end to a part of the predicate offence which forms the substratum of the PMLA proceedings

“That the reliefs sought by the Petitioner in the present Petition seeks to put to an end to a part of the predicate offence which forms the substratum of the PMLA proceedings. The Applicant during the course of investigation of proceeds of crime generated from the scheduled offences in the FIR and Final Report is in a position to demonstrate the modus operandi of the commission of the offences alleged in the FIR and Final Report,” the plea reads.

The application filed by the Enforcement Directorate also contends that if the agency is denied the opportunity to be heard then ED will suffer from grave and irreparable harm and prejudice.

“If denied the opportunity to be heard in the present Petition, the Applicant shall suffer from grave and irreparable harm and prejudice. The investigation that it has conducted into the aspect of money laundering arising from the FIR and the Final Report would be rendered nugatory,” the plea states.

Case title: ED vs Anil Parab