3 minutes of readingBombayFebruary 7, 2026 22:27 IST
A special court on Saturday rejected the dismissal plea filed by a company linked to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s son, along with two others, in a money laundering case registered against the politician.
The court dismissed the dismissal applications of Premier Port Links Pvt Ltd, linked to Deshmukh’s son Salil, and chartered accountants Vishal Hatwani and Vinod Hasani, holding that there was prima facie material to proceed against them.
“It appears prima facie broader that the petitioner company (Premier Port Links) is one of the entities controlled and managed by the co-accused, the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and his family, and was used as part of the corporate structure created for layering and integration of tainted funds. The petitioner company, which has substantial control over Deshmukh and his family, is directly linked to the beneficiaries of the Deshmukh family from the proceeds of crime,” the special judge said. Mahesh. Jadhav said in the order.
Premier Port Links, through Salil Deshmukh, had sought release, alleging that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) “unnecessarily dragged” the company into the case. The ED has alleged that the transactions involving the company were related to money laundering allegedly received as bribes by Deshmukh from bar and hotel owners through co-accused and dismissed police officer Sachin Waze.
The plea argued that while the alleged bribery transactions pertained to 2020-21, the transactions involving the company mentioned in the ED complaint dated back to 2004-07. He said the company was properly audited and these transactions could not even remotely be linked to the money laundering case. It was also alleged that, as of March 2010, the company had no active activities or significant cash flows and that its assets consisted largely of agricultural land that did not generate income.
Countering the plea, special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves argued that money laundering is a continuing crime and that the loan transactions linked the company to the proceeds of crime. Accepting the ED’s argument, the court noted that the company had allegedly acquired loans worth Rs 2.20 crore from another company in which the Deshmukh family had pumped funds through equity and subsequently acquired a 50 per cent stake for a “meager” Rs 17.5 lakh crore, even though the company had assets worth Rs 5.4 lakh crore.
The two public accountants maintained that they were not beneficiaries of any transaction and had simply provided professional services. However, the court observed that prima facie evidence indicated that they were aware of the proceeds of crime and had assisted Deshmukh in distributing the funds.
The trial in the case has not yet begun.