Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on November 2 in connection with a money laundering case registered against him, was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a holiday sessions court on Saturday.
The court, however, refused to grant a nine-day extension of Deshmukh’s custody requested by the ED.
The Enforcement Directorate had sought further custody of Anil Deshmukh for interrogation, claiming that the former Maharashtra minister had remained evasive in his replies during questioning and gave “vague answers”.
Alleging that Anil Deshmukh’s “intransigence is delaying the investigation”, the ED had sought further custody of the former Maharashtra minister to “probe further his role in money laundering”.
The Enforcement Directorate also mentioned that due to holidays, “certain documents couldn’t be obtained and certain persons couldn’t be examined”.
Meanwhile, Anil Deshmukh’s lawyer Inderpal Singh opposed the agency’s plea for further custody and claimed that Deshmukh has been interrogated for 10 hours daily by Enforcement Directorate during the last few days of custody.
Judge P R Sitre heard the arguments in the Mumbai sessions court on Saturday.