Nawab Malik, Anil Deshmukh rush to Bombay High Court seeking one-day bail for RS polls voting after Mumbai court rejects their plea

Anil Deshmukh. File Photo

After Mumbai special court refused to grant temporary bail to Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on June 10, they both approached the Bombay High Court on Thursday the for relief.

The legal teams of Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh sought permission to file pleadings challenging the special court's order and sought an urgent hearing from the Bombay High Court.

In their petitions, Malik and Deshmukh have sought that they either be granted a temporary bail of one day or be allowed to cast their vote at the polling booth in the presence of an escort. A bench of Justice P D Naik is likely to hear the petitions of both the politicians on Friday.

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Deshmukh in his plea sought directions to the Mumbai Central Prison to take him to the polling booth for the Rajya Sabha election.

Both the NCP leaders are currently lodged in jail in connection with different money-laundering cases being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

After hearing extensive arguments by all the parties, the Mumbai special court earlier in the day refused temporary bail to both the leaders.

The ED had opposed their pleas, saying that prisoners do not have voting rights under the Representation of the People Act.
While Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in November 2021 in a money-laundering case, Nawab Malik was arrested on February 23 this year in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

In the Rajya Sabha polls to six seats from Maharashtra, every vote is crucial for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, of which the NCP is a constituent, to get the Sena's second candidate- Sanjay Pawar- elected.

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