As we have already covered, Sanjay Raut was arrested in a money laundering case in August. On Wednesday, the Mumbai High Court granted bail to a Shiv Sena leader in connection with his involvement in the Patra Chawl Development Project.
Crox Media Desk reports: On Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was granted bail in the money laundering case involving his involvement in the Patra Chawl Development Project. Back in August, he was arrested by ED after six hours of questioning in the Rs 1034 crore Patra Chawl Land case a few months ago.
Raut’s aide, Praveen Raut, had also been granted bail by the special court in Mumbai.
Raut, a senior leader in Uddhav Thackrey’s faction, claimed that the arrest was an “abuse of power” and a “political vendetta”. He is currently in judicial custody at the Arthur Road Jail.
However, ED had rejected the plea and said he played a major role in the laundering case related to Patra Chawl redevelopment and acted “behind the curtains.”
What is the Patra Chawl Scam?
The ED claimed there were some financial irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl and financial transactions involving Sanjay Raut and his associates.
Patra Chawl in Goregoan is spread over 47 acres and houses 672 families. In 2008, the Maharashtra Housing and Development Project, a government agency, assigned redevelopment of the Patra Chawl project to Guru Ashish Constructions Private Limited, a sister company of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd.
The GACPL was liable to build 672 flats for the tenants and also give some flats to MHADA. And the remaining flats can be sold to any private builder.
But the tenants didn’t get a single flat in the last 14 years as the company did not redevelop the Patra Chawl and sold land parcels and floor space index to other builders for Rs. 1034 crore, as per the ED.
The first chargesheet was filed by ED on March 31, 2022, against Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan, the promoters of DHFL, and Pravin Raut and his company. In September, ED filed a chargesheet against Sanjay Raut and his aide Pravin Raut as well. Pravin Raut is accused of money laundering totaling Rs 112 crore, of which 1.06 crore was diverted to Sanjay Raut and his wife Varsha Raut via various methods.
