On Thursday, January 11, the Supreme Court of India extended the interim bail plea of former Maharashtra minister and NPC leader Nawab Malik in a case related to money laundering. In October 2023, the top court extended NCP's leader's bail for three months on medical grounds. It was the second bail extension for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader after the court had granted him a two-month bail on August 11. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not object to the court granting relief to Malik on either occasion.
According to the report by Bar and Bench, a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal passed the order after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), did not object to the request. Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on allegations that he had purchased certain property at a rate lower than market value.
During the recent winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Malik created a stir when he sat on a treasury bench seat, leading to speculation that he had aligned with the Ajit Pawar faction. Later, Malik was also seen sitting in the Vidhan Bhavan office of the Ajit Pawar faction. Malik filed for regular bail after a special PMLA court took cognisance of the chargesheet in May 2022. Malik later moved to the High Court after a Mumbai special court rejected his bail plea on November 30, 2022.