Adarsh scam: money laundering case against Ashok Chavan, 13 others

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan along with 13 others has been slapped with a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh housing scam, according to PTI.

"An ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on March 5 against 14 persons, the PTI reports. The 14 persons are the same who have been named as accused by CBI in their FIR," senior counsel R V Desai appearing for ED told the Bombay High Court today.

The high court, division bench of justices S A Bobade and Mridula Bhatkar was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by social activists Pravin Wategaonkar and Simpreet Singh seeking directions that the ED register a case with the investigations conducted by CBI and ED under the supervision of the high court, the news agency reported.

"The accused persons got clearances to construct Adarsh illegally and obtained flats at a very low price compared to market value. The accused projected tainted property as untainted. Prima facie it constitutes offence under section 3 of PMLA," the ECIR states.

The high court took the ED to task for the way it was handling the case.

"In December last year the court had asked ED to make a statement on applicability on provisions of PMLA. But even today the agency is not able to make a conclusive statement on PMLA," justice Bobade said.