The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut asking him to appear on July 1 for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates.
The Rajya Sabha member was issued the first summons for Tuesday, but he sought more time citing official commitments and a meeting he was supposed to attend at Alibaug in Raigad district of the State during the day.
Raut’s lawyers met ED officials at the agency’s office in Mumbai on Tuesday and sought about two weeks’ time for his appearance. However, the agency granted him relief only till this month-end.
"The ED summons was served late Monday afternoon, so we made an application to seek time because the ED has demanded a few documents," Raut's lawyer told reporters after meeting agency officials at their regional office in south Mumbai. Through Raut’s questioning, the agency is seeking to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency is also seeking to know Raut’s "business and other links" with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.
The development comes as the Shiv Sena battles rebellion from a group of its MLAs, leading to a question mark on the future of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government in Maharashtra. In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut's wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.
The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut's aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).
The attached properties also include a flat in Mumbai's suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a "close associate" of Sanjay Raut, the ED had earlier said.