The Supreme Court Monday refused to grant interim relief to Ex Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh who was seeking protection from any coercive action in connection with a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said Desmukh is at liberty to access remedies available to him under the law. “We are not inclined to grant any interim relief," said the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and V Ramasubramanian. During the hearing, the counsel appearing for Deshmukh told the bench that this is a classic case of “political witch-hunt”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated there are serious allegations of money laundering in the case. You take recourse to remedies which are available to you under the law, the bench told Deshmukh's counsel.

Enforcement Directorate had earlier issued summons to Deshmukh with a criminal case registered under the PMLA related to an alleged Rs 100 crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to Deshmukh's resignation in April this year. The ED case against Deshmukh and others was registered after the CBI had lodged a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

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