Nawab Malik's judicial remand extended till April 4

Mumbai, March 21 (IANS) A Special PMLA Court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik by 14 days till April 4.

However, the Special Court has allowed his plea to provide him with a bed, mattress and chair during his judicial custody.

Malik, 62, was arrested in a pre-dawn swoop on February 23 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged money-laundering case arising out of a tainted land deal involving the mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.

In continuous custody since then, Malik had moved the Bombay High Court last week to quash the ED case and set aside a Special PMLA Court ruling sending him to custody in the case dating back to over 20 years, but his plea was rejected.

Later, the Nationalist Congress Party decided to relieve Malik of his portfolios and Guardian Ministership of two districts which shall be allocated to other Cabinet colleagues by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.