Special court closes money laundering case against Hasan Mushrif and sons after ED report

The money laundering case filed in 2022 against Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Hasan Mushrif and his sons has been closed. The special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) accepted the closure report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The decision followed the quashing of the original offences linked to the case.

The inquiry began with a complaint filed in March 2022 by the office of the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Pune, alleging violation of the Companies Act. In February 2023, an FIR was registered at Murgud police station in Kolhapur district, alleging forged entries and tampering in share capital raised from farmers.

The Bombay High Court quashed the offence registered at Murgud police station in 2025. In June 2025, the court disposed of the petition seeking quashing of the Murgud FIR. The court noted that the investigating officer had already filed a "C-Summary" report (the case is neither true nor false) in the local court, and that it had been accepted.

Seeking closure of the investigation, the ED told the special court that a scheduled offence is a "sine qua non", an essential condition, for initiating action under the PMLA. The ED argued that after the High Court's orders, nothing remained in the money laundering complaint.

"With the original offence quashed, the offence under the PMLA cannot be sustained," Special PMLA Judge S. V. Sahare said in the order issued on Tuesday. Details of the order became available on Thursday. The court then closed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) dated April 4, 2022, and directed that the case papers be returned to ED officials.

Besides Mushrif and his sons, the directors of Kolhapur's Sarsenapati Santaji Ghorpade Sugar Factory Limited, and the factory itself, were also accused in the case. The ED had alleged that in 2013-2014 the factory received crores of rupees in the name of equity and preference shares from several bogus and non-existent entities, including companies in Kolkata and companies whose registration had been cancelled.

According to the agency, the company's financial statements showed investments of more than Rs 11.35 crore, but there was no matching bank transaction. The ED also alleged that a large sum was diverted into the accounts of the factory, its related limited liability partnership (LLP) entities and the directors through multi-layered, circular transactions and cash deposits.

The ED conducted searches at several locations in early 2023. In July 2024, fixed deposit receipts worth Rs 2.07 crore and Rs 7.70 lakh in cash were provisionally attached. In December 2024, the Adjudicating Authority in New Delhi confirmed the attachment. The accused then approached the Bombay High Court challenging both original cases.

On November 6 last year, the High Court quashed the process issued by the Pune court on the RoC's complaint. The High Court had noted that the allegations pertain to 2013-14 and that the relevant amendment to the Companies Act came into force in April 2021; since it applies prospectively, it cannot be applied retrospectively.