Court questions framing of Nawab Malik's charges over pending ED document plea

The Bombay High Court questioned how charges were framed against Nawab Malik while his plea for unrelied ED documents was pending. The hearing turned on whether missing or destroyed records could affect the prosecution case and the validity of the charges.'How can charges be framed?' Bombay High Court asks in NCP leader Nawab Malik money-laundering case (Photo: ITG)The Bombay High Court on Wednesday questioned how charges could have been framed against NCP leader Nawab Malik in a money-laundering case when his plea seeking documents seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) but not relied upon in the prosecution was still pending before the court.Malik, through advocate Kushal Mor, is challenging the framing of charges against him by the special PMLA court last year. Before the charges were framed, Malik's lawyer had argued that the ED had withheld seized documents that were favourable to the defence and that material beneficial to Malik had been suppressed by the prosecution.Mor had contended that if all the seized documents were produced, there would be no basis to frame charges against Malik. He had therefore sought deferment of the proceedings until the issue was decided. The special court, however, went ahead with framing the charges against Malik and others on November 18, 2025.The ED is said to have told the court that some of the documents sought by Malik had been destroyed in a fire that engulfed its office in Mumbai's Fort area in April 2025. WHY MALIK CHALLENGED THE CHARGESWhile Malik's plea seeking the unrelied documents was pending before the High Court, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG), appearing for the ED, had sought time to file a reply. The agency had also assured the High Court that it would not press for framing of charges before the trial court.Despite this, the trial court went ahead with the proceedings on November 18, 2025, and framed charges against Malik and others. Malik subsequently amended his plea seeking the unrelied documents to also challenge the framing of charges. The matter is now before a bench headed by Justice Milind Jadhav.During Wednesday's hearing, Mor submitted that charges had been framed despite the statement made by the ASG before the High Court. He also pointed out that after the charges were framed, the High Court had allowed Malik to amend his plea and challenge the charges on the issue of the documents not being supplied.Justice Jadhav then questioned the sequence of events, asking, "How can charges also be framed when this thing . . . how can it be framed?"ED ASSURANCE BEFORE HIGH COURTMor told the court that the documents sought by Malik had actually been referred to by the ED while opposing his bail plea. However, he said, they were not included in the list of documents relied upon against Malik in the chargesheet.The bench asked what would happen if the documents had been destroyed in the fire and were no longer accessible."But suppose if the documents are destroyed in the fire and nobody has access to them, then what do we do then? What is the outcome of that?" Justice Jadhav asked.Mor responded that while the original documents may have been destroyed, copies were available because they formed part of the court proceedings. He stressed that one of the documents being sought would completely undermine the ED's case against Malik.Justice Jadhav observed that criminal law was different from civil law when it came to evidence. In civil proceedings, primary and secondary evidence could be admitted, whereas the position was different in criminal proceedings, the court said.The bench will hear Malik's plea on October 8.WHAT ED HAS ALLEGED AGAINST MALIKThe ED has alleged that the case involves proceeds of crime worth around Rs 16 crore and Malik's alleged possession of a prime three-acre plot of land in Mumbai's Kurla area.According to the agency, Malik acquired the property with the help of Haseena Parkar, the late sister of underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim. The allegations also include the use of forged documents.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka KumariPublished On: Sep 23, 2026 17:20 IST