The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Nationalist Congress Party leader Sameer Bhujbal in a money laundering case, reported PTI. Bhujbal was arrested in February 2016. Sameer Bhujbal is the nephew of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

The bench directed him to surrender his passport at the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, to make himself available for questioning whenever required, and asked him not to leave Mumbai without its permission.

Justice AS Gadkari granted bail to Sameer on the grounds that the main accused in the case, Chhagan Bhujbal, had already been granted bail by another bench of the High Court on May 4, and that Sameer had already been in custody for over two years for an offence that entails a maximum punishment of seven years. The court asked Sameer to furnish a surety of Rs 5 lakh to secure the bail.

Chhagan Bhujbal, who was arrested in 2016 in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam, is accused of misusing his position to cause financial losses to the state government during the redevelopment of the Maharashtra Sadan, the state guesthouse in New Delhi. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj Bhujbal and Sameer Bhujbal have played a major role in scams, which have cost the state exchequer an estimated Rs 870 crore.