Nawab Malik, a former cabinet minister and NCP leader accused in a money laundering case involving gangster Dawood Ibrahim's late sister Haseena Parkar, was denied bail on Wednesday by a special court. The order was issued by Special Judge RN Rokade.

Today, special judge RN Rokade issued his decision on Malik's regular bail petition. A detailed copy of the order is being prepared. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Malik on suspicion of paying less than market value for a property from Ibrahim.

Malik was allegedly picked up from his home at 7 a.m. on February 23 for questioning after being forced to sign the summons authorised by the ED.

According to the ED, Malik conspired with D-gang members Haseena Parker (late), Salim Patel (late), and Sardar Khan (1993 bomb blast convict) to usurp one Munira Plumber's 3-acre ancestral property in Kurla for a pittance despite the property's ready reckoner rate being Rs 3.54 crore between 2003-05.

According to the agency, a power of attorney granted by the Plumber to Patel and Khan for the purpose of removing encroachments on her land was abused in order to sell the property to a company owned by Malik's family.

Malik was arrested and remanded to ED custody for 8 days before being transferred to judicial custody after an 8-hour interrogation. Malik also filed a Habeas Corpus petition with the Bombay High Court, which was denied. The Supreme Court upheld the same.

Malik filed for regular bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after the Special PMLA Court took cognizance of the charge sheet in May 2022. Malik argued that despite having a bulky charge sheet running into 9 volumes after a 6-month investigation, the ED still relied solely on Munira's statement 22 years later with no corroborating evidence proving the allegation's falsity.

The ED claimed that Malik was in charge of the proceeds of the crime via Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, one of the offices on the property. He became a tenant of Solidus through a family business before purchasing the property. Malik had previously challenged his remand all the way to the Supreme Court but had been unsuccessful.