NCP’s Nawab Malik gets SC relief, interim bail gets six month-extension

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik gets big relief from Supreme Court. Malik had moved the top court against the Bombay High Court’s July 13, 2023, order denying him bail on medical grounds in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal extended the medical bail granted to Malik after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, said the probe agency has no objection to it. 

The top court had earlier noted that Malik is suffering from kidney ailment and his condition has not improved since August 11 last year when he was granted interim bail for two months.

The ED had arrested Malik in February 2022 in the case allegedly linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his associates. Malik had sought relief from the high court, claiming he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease apart from various other ailments. He also sought bail on merit. The high court had said it will hear his plea seeking bail on merit after two weeks.

The ED’s case against Malik is based on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Dawood Ibrahim, a designated global terrorist and a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, and his associates under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

With PTI inputs