Money laundering: Anil Deshmukh moves SC seeking protection from coercive action

New Delhi, July 04: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Sunday moved the Supreme Court seeking protection from any coercive action in a money laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate had, on Saturday, issued fresh summons to the NCP leader seeking his appearance on July 5 in the case.

The ED has, so far, issued three notices to Deshmukh, who has been asked to record his statement at the central agency''s office in south Mumbai on Monday.

Deshmukh, 72, has moved the top court seeking protection from any coercive action, Mumbai-based advocate Inderpal B Singh said in a video message released for the media.

Deshmukh had skipped the two earlier summons citing his "vulnerability" to COVID-19 as the reason for non-compliance in his last communication to the agency.

He instead offered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to record his statement through video conferencing.

The summons are in connection with the criminal case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) related to an alleged Rs 100 bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to Deshmukh's resignation in April this year.

The first summons followed raids conducted by the ED at his premises in Mumbai and Nagpur apart from that of his aides and some others last month.

The agency subsequently arrested two of his aides in this case, personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45).

They are in ED custody till July 6.