Overview

• On June 16, a single-judge bench led by Justice Rajesh N. Laddha set aside a 2021 special court order and removed Shyam Radhakrishna Malpani from the Enforcement Directorate’s 2015 money laundering probe.
• Justice Laddha ruled that mere absence of due diligence by an auditor does not constitute an offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
• The ED had accused Malpani of facilitating concealment of illicit funds while auditing companies controlled by NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal during his tenure as Maharashtra deputy chief minister and PWD minister.
• Malpani’s counsel argued that his statutory audit duties between 2012 and 2015 were limited to verifying account maintenance and that the alleged proceeds of crime dated back to 2007–08.
• The underlying case began with a 2015 Anti-Corruption Bureau complaint over irregular land transfers in Andheri, which had already led to the discharge of Bhujbal and his family from related charges in 2021.