No relief to Sanjay Raut! Mumbai court extends Shiv Sena leader's judicial custody by 14 days

In a major blow to the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut as a special PMLA court extended his judicial custody till September 19 in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam.

 

It should be noted that Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl in suburban Goregaon. He was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on August 8.

 

 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Raut had received part of the proceeds of crime in the redevelopment project in Goregaon that did not materialize.

 

 

 

It has been alleged that Pravin Raut, the frontman of the MP Sanjay Raut in the case, and also one of the directors of the company (Guruashish Constructions Pvt Ltd.) that was in charge of the redevelopment project, had transferred some amounts to Sanjay Raut and his wife from Rs. 112 crores that he had benefited from the fraud.

 

 

The Patra Chawl land scam unfolded when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 11.15 crores to Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha and two of his associates.

 

Siddharth Nagar, popularly known as Patra Chawl, is located in the northern Mumbai suburb of Goregaon. Spread over an area of 47 acres, the ‘chawl’ had a total of 672 houses.

 

In 2008, the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA) undertook the redevelopment project which involved the rehabilitation of all 672 tenants and redevelopment of the locality and gave the contract to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL).

 

The residents were promised rent and redevelopment of the area, which eventually took a halt. The ED claims that Pravin Raut, a close aide of Raut, and the other associates of GACPL misled MHADA, and sold the floor space index (FSI) to nine private developers, collecting Rs 901.79 crore, without constructing wither the rehab portion for the 672 tenants, or the MHADA portion.

 

Further, the ED has claimed that funds related to the project were transferred to several associates of Sanjay Raut as well as his wife Varsha.