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In a significant relief to Praful Patel, a Mumbai court has overturned an Enforcement Directorate (ED) order to attach his properties valued at over ₹180 crore. The decision was made by an Appellate Tribunal that oversees the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA).
Mr. Patel, who represents the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar in the Rajya Sabha, is now part of Maharashtra's Mahayuti coalition with the BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
Previously, the ED had seized the 12th and 15th floors of Ceejay House in Mumbai's upscale Worli area, owned by Mr. Patel and his family. These properties, worth around ₹180 crore, are registered in the name of Praful Patel's wife Varsha and his company Millennium Developer. The ED alleged that the properties were illegally acquired from Hajra Memon, the widow and first wife of Iqbal Mirchi, a drug mafia associate and right-hand man of gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Mirchi, also an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, died in London in 2013.
The tribunal, however, rejected the ED's attachment order, stating that the properties were not involved in money laundering and had no connection to Mirchi. It noted that the 14,000-square-foot property of Ms. Memon and her two sons in Ceejay House had been separately attached, and thus the Patels' 14,000-square-foot property did not require double attachment as it was not part of the proceeds of crime.
The ED had contended that Mr. Patel had purchased the plot on which Ceejay House was built from Ms. Memon, and since she and her sons were declared fugitives, the properties were attached. The tribunal's decision has prompted criticism from the opposition, renewing allegations of bias against the BJP.
Sanjay Raut, representing Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena in the Rajya Sabha, remarked that the ED's actions have raised questions about its credibility. "It is now clear that the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are both extensions of the BJP," Mr. Raut said. "The ED's credibility is in question now."
Raut further asserted, "We had no illegal properties. Yet they were attached. You have released everyone's property but not those who oppose you (the BJP). We will continue our legal battle. You can take away even my clothes. We won't bow to you."
Praful Patel, a loyalist of Ajit Pawar, supported him during his unexpected rebellion against his uncle Sharad Pawar in 2023. This political coup resulted in the division of the NCP, with Ajit Pawar backing the BJP-Shinde Sena government and becoming one of the Deputy Chief Ministers.
