Bombay High Court directs ED to respond to the arrest Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary in Khichdi scam

Suraj Chavan was arrested on January 17, 2024, for his alleged irregularities in distributing khichdi to migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

A Division Bench of judges of the Bombay High Court, Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice P.K. Chavan on Thursday (October 24, 2024) questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to Suraj Chavan’s petition that questions the legal grounds of his arrest and custody in a money laundering case. 

Mr. Chavan, reportedly a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray, was arrested on January 17, 2024, in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The case is linked to an alleged financial irregularity in assigning contracts for the distribution of khichdi to the migrant workers by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 

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Mr. Chavan has challenged the legality of his arrest and subsequent custody taken by the investigating agency. 

The Bench has sought a response from the ED and placed the matter for further hearing on November 14, 2024.

Mr. Chavan’s petition claims that the allegations against him lack credibility and the charges are based on mere conjecture. The petition argues that there were procedural violations, and his arrest did not comply with the necessary requirements under the PMLA. Mr. Chavan also claims that at the time of arrest, he was not issued any notice. The remand orders were issued without adequate justification and violated his fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.  

He also emphasised that his name was not even mentioned as an accused under the PMLA, hence, his arrest was unjustified, arbitrary and executed without proper legal grounds and hence, it should be quashed.   

The allegations of the khichdi scam involve names of several contractors such as Force One Multi Services and Sahyadri Refreshment who were given tender to supply khichdi packets to the migrant workers. They are accused of securing these contracts at an inflated price of ₹33 per packet with an additional GST amount despite not meeting the eligibility criteria. The contractors further supplied substandard 100-gram packets of khichdi instead of 300 grams that they were asked to in the contract. 

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FIR against these two companies suggest that they misappropriated significant public funds, causing a financial loss of ₹6.37 crore to the BMC. In this scam, Mr. Chavan is accused of using his political influence to facilitate these contracts. He is also accused of unlawfully obtaining ₹1.35 crore proceeds of crime.  

Following his arrest in January, Mr. Chavan contested the ED’s remand applications and on January 18, 2024, the ED sought eight days of his custody from the PMLA court that was partly granted. The court had remanded him until January 22 and later his custody was extended until January 25.  

Published - October 25, 2024 12:39 pm IST