India, Dec. 11 -- "Are you protecting the deputy chief minister's son and only investigating others," the Bombay High Court asked the state, during a hearing in a case relating to the controversial Mundhwa land deal in Pune, on Wednesday.

The question, which referenced Parth Pawar, son of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, was posed by a single judge bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar, on noting that Parth had not been named in the First Information Report (FIR).

Wednesday's hearing related to the anticipatory bail application filed by Pune-based businesswoman Sheetal Tejwani. The court, wanting to know whether the police were protecting Parth, was addressing the public prosecutor, who replied that the police were investigating the case and ...