Court grants bail to Mirchi's aide in money laundering case, pulls up ED

A special PMLA court here on Friday granted bail to businessman Haroun Yusuf, arrested in 2019 in connection with a money laundering case also involving late gangster and drug smuggler Iqbal Mirchi, holding he had no knowledge regarding the latter's source of money.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the case, has claimed Yusuf had assisted Mirchi in buying properties in India using money earned through illegal activities. However, special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court judge MG Deshpande, while granting the accused bail, held that except bare allegations, there was nothing to show Yusuf had any knowledge regarding Mirchi's source of money.

The judge also pulled up the central agency for delaying trial in the case. Based on multiple FIRs registered under provisions of the IPC and the NDPS Act (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) against Mirchi, the ED had registered its case against him, his family members and others. Mirchi died at the age of