Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut granted bail, court rips ED apart for "illegal arrest"

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut moved through cheering crowds of his party workers waving his hand from the sunroof of SUV on Wednesday after he emerged from the Arthur Road Jail in central Mumbai.

Sanjay Raut was released hours after he was granted bail in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that dealt a blow to his already emaciated party after the Shinde faction had formed a government.

Despite the central agency, investigating the money laundering case, requested to put the bail on hold, the Bombay High Court also cleared Raut' release.

The High Court Justice Bharati Dangre responded to the ED's request of holding the bail saying that the court could not pass that order without hearing both parties, while listing the matter for Thursday to hear.

Following his release Sanjay Raut said he would never forget what happened to him, adding that he had never committed anything wrong. He expressed gratitude to the legal institutions for giving him justice.

While granting bail to both Raut and co-accused Pravin Raut in the case, a special court earlier in the day rejected ED's request to stay the effect of the order till Friday.

Alongside the judge MG Deshpande termed the agency's move a " wich-hunt" and stated that " I hold that both accused are basically arrested illegally".

The judge also observed that "labelling pure civil disputes" as money laundering or economic offence "cannot automatically acquire such status", and added that it would ultimately leave an innocent person into "miserable situation in the guise of arrest".

Sanjay Raut who is a vociferous critic of the BJP was arrested by ED on August 1 on the charges of financial irregularities linked to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl tenement in suburban Goregaon.