NCP Minister Chhagan Bhujbal discharged in money laundering case

A Mumbai court on Friday discharged NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal in a money laundering case pertaining to the construction of ‘Maharashtra Sadan’ in New Delhi. The case relates to a 2005-2006 deal that the NCP leader, when he was State PWD minister, allegedly gave to a firm for its construction.

As per the Enforcement Directorate, Bhujbal and his family members had received kickbacks from the construction firm KS Chamankar for the construction of Maharashtra Sadan. The probe agency had claimed the construction company had transferred money to firms in which the minister’s son, Pankaj and nephew, Sameer Bhujbal, were directors. On Friday, special PMLA Judge Satyanarayan Ramjivan Navandar accepted the discharge application of the senior NCP leader and other accused in the case, a lawyer said. The ED case is based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau against the NCP leader and his kin. It is alleged that the original cost estimate for Maharashtra Sadan was Rs 13.5 crore, but was later increased to Rs 50 crore. As per the ED, Bhujbal got Rs 13.5 crore in kickbacks from the firm, which earned a profit of about Rs 190 crore from the construction of Maharashtra Sadan and other PWD works.