A special court has said that Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut dealt with some unaccounted money for purchasing plots at Kihim near Alibag in Raigad districtm but the same cannot be thrown in the stock of proceeds of crime (POC) under the provisions of the Prevention of money laundering case (PMLA).
Special PMLA court judge M G Deshpande made this observation on Wednesday while granting bail to Raut in a money laundering case related to the Patra Chawl redevelopment project in which he had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 this year, PTI reported.
Raut, a close confidante of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, walked out of the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai on Wednesday after being granted bail. Though Sanjay Raut had received some money as alleged in the prosecution complaint (charge-sheet) from co-accused Pravin Raut, there is absolutely nothing to show that it is a proceeds of crime with knowledge thereof to the Shiv Sena leader, it said.
Unaccounted money without explanation and without nexus with POC or any activity relating to scheduled offence cannot be capitalised as done by the ED herein (in the case), the court added.