New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has been denied permission to meet jailed party MP Sanjay Raut and has been asked by authorities to take court approval for meeting him in the prison, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday (September 7, 2022) citing a senior jail official. Raut, who was arrested in early August in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai 'chawl' (old row tenement), is currently lodged in the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai.


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According to PTI, a few days back, a person claiming to be a representative of Thackeray had phoned the prison administration and said that Uddhav wanted to meet Raut in the jailer's room. Jail authorities, however, denied the Shiv Sena president permission to meet his close aide and asked his representative to take the court's consent for the same. 


"Any meeting with Raut will have to take place as per rules framed for ordinary prisoners and that too only after the court's approval," PTI quoted the official as saying.


No written application had been received by the jail authorities, he said but refused to reveal the name of the person who made the phone call or the day he approached the administration. 


Sanjay Raut arrested by ED in Patra 'Chawl' case


Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged role in financial irregularities related to the redevelopment of Patra 'Chawl' in suburban Goregaon. As per ED, the Rajya Sabha member was found to be an alleged beneficiary of more than Rs 2 crore of the proceeds of crime. 


The central probe agency has also claimed documents seized during its probe showed the purchase of properties at Alibaug, a coastal town in neighbouring Raigad district, by Raut involved substantial cash transactions. 


Raut, on the other hand, has denied any wrongdoing and dubbed the ED case against him as "false".


Sanjay Raut seeks bail from special court


Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut on Wednesday moved a bail application before a special court in Mumbai. His bail plea is likely to come up for hearing before judge MG Deshpande, presiding over the special PMLA court, on Thursday. 


The 60-year-old politician is currently in jail under judicial custody. 


(With agency inputs)