Money laundering case: SC adjourns hearing on NCP leader Nawab Malik's plea for bail on medical grounds

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The Supreme Court of India Monday adjourned for a week the hearing on former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's plea against a Bombay High Court order refusing to grant him bail on medical grounds in connection with a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi deferred the matter due to the unavailability of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is representing NCP leader Malik, PTI reported.

Malik was arrested in February 2022 by the ED in a case allegedly linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his associates.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader is in judicial custody and currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital here.

The High Court on July 13 had refused to grant Malik bail on medical grounds.

Malik had sought relief from the HC, claiming he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease apart from various other ailments. He also sought bail on merit.

The high court had said it would hear his plea seeking bail on merit after two weeks.

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The ED's case against Malik is based on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Dawood Ibrahim, a designated global terrorist and a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, and his associates under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court termed as "horrendous" the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur and sought information about steps taken so far in the FIRs lodged, saying now it will not want the state police to probe the matter as they virtually handed over the women to the rioting mob.

The top court said it may constitute an SIT or a committee comprising former judges to monitor the situation in the strife-torn state subject to hearing the law officers representing the Centre and Manipur on Tuesday.

The bench, which listed a clutch of pleas on Manipur violence for hearing on Tuesday, said though the incident of stripping and parading these women came to light on May 4 why the Manipur police took 14 days to register an FIR on May 18.

"What was the police doing? Why was an FIR in video case transferred to magisterial court on June 24, that is after one month and three days," asked the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

"This is horrendous. There are media reports that these women were handed over to mob by the police. We also do not want the police to handle it," the bench said.

When Attorney General R Venkataramani sought time for responding to the queries, the bench said it was running out of time and there was "a great need" for giving a healing touch to the state, for those who lost everything including their loved ones and their homes.

The bench asked the state government to provide the details about the number of 'zero FIRs' registered in the state torn by ethnic violence and the arrests made so far.

A zero FIR can be filed in any police station regardless of whether the offence was committed within its jurisdiction.

"We would also want to know the package for rehabilitation being provided to the state for affected people," it said. (Agencies)