SC asks Bombay HC to decide Anil Deshmukh’s bail plea this week

Supreme Court on Monday asked the Bombay High Court to decide expeditiously the former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s bail plea in an alleged money laundering case by the end of this week, and expressed its displeasure that the Bombay HC not deciding and keeping the bail plea pending for so long.

While expressing displeasure over the way the 8-month long pendency of the bail petition, a bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chadrachud, in its order allowed and permitted Anil Deshmukh to apply tomorrow before Justice N.J. Jamadar of the Bombay High Court, to whom the hearing his application of bail in PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) matter has been assigned.

Justice Chandrachud also made it clear that the application has to be taken up during the course of this week and disposed of expeditiously.

Justice Chandrachud also during the course of the hearing of the case, observed that any person who files an application seeking bail has a legitimate expectation of it being heard expeditiously. Keeping it pending for 8 months is not proper with the jurisprudence of bail.

“We ask the Bombay High Court to grant him (Anil Deshmukh) an hearing during the course of the week and decide his bail plea expeditiously,” the Supreme Court said in its order.