Mumbai: Sanjay Raut, senior leader of the Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray faction and one of his closes aides, was granted bail today by a special court in a money laundering case.
A request by the Enforcement Directorate to stop his release today was also rejected.
The firebrand leader, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, has been in jail for the past three-and-a-half months.
The court had on October 21 reserved its order on the bail petition after hearing arguments from both sides.
"It is a happy day for us. Today is Diwali for our family. We trust the court," Sanjay Raut's brother Sandip Raut told reporters.
Sanjay Raut was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate on August 1 in connection with alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a residential colony in Mumbai.
Before his arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Rajya Sabha MP had skipped the agency's summons twice.
Mr Raut had alleged that a false case had been prepared against him out of political vendetta.
The Rajya Sabha MP's arrest had come amid the bitter tussle for the control of Sena between the factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Mr Raut had been the voice of the Thackeray camp and was vocal against the Shinde camp's tie-up with the BJP after the rebellion within Sena brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government.
Following his arrest, Chief Minister Shinde had said that if Mr Raut is innocent, he should not fear the central agency's investigation against him.
Mr Raut's arrest at midnight had sparked huge protests by his supporters. Responding to his arrest, Mr Thackeray had said, "I am proud of Sanjay Raut. It is a conspiracy to destroy us. We have to wipe out whoever speaks against us. A vendetta politics with such a mindset is going on."
Opposition parties, including the Congress, had spoken out against the central agency's move and accused the BJP-led government of using investigative agencies to target political rivals.
The Enforcement Directorate has denied the political vendetta charge and said Mr Raut was "fully involved" in the money laundering offence.
"Redevelopment of Patra Chawl was to be done by Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL) for 672 tenants with Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) but even before the construction GACPL sold the FSI to third-party developers for a sum of 1034 crore. This 1,034 crore was an amount from proceeds of crime (POC) by the illegal and unauthorised sale of FSI to developers. Out of POC of 1034 crores, Praveen Raut got 112 crores in his bank account through Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL)," the ED said.
"The role of Sanjay Raut's proxy and confidant Praveen Raut has been comprehensively brought out in the supplementary charge sheet filed on September 15, 2022. In order to avoid trial Sanjay Raut has been operating behind the curtains and Praveen Raut being his frontman," the agency had alleged.