India, Nov. 1 -- Over a year and a half after the demolition of 41 illegal buildings in Vasai-Virar left nearly 2,500 families homeless, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has discharged former municipal commissioner Anil Kumar Pawar from the alleged land-grabbing and illegal construction racket, ruling that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) failed to establish a money trail linking him to the proceeds of crime.

The affected residents, predominantly from working-class and lower-middle-class backgrounds, included a large number of migrant workers.

While discharging Pawar, the court also cleared his wife, Bharti Pawar, and two chartered accountants. However, it took cognisance of the ED's money-laundering complaint a...