MUMBAI, Sept. 17 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday struck down a decade-long money-laundering case related to the Maharashtra Sadan scam, against real estate developers Krishna Shantaram Chamankar, his brother Prasanna, and their partnership firm KS Chamankar Enterprises. The court ruled that once the accused have been discharged from the predicate offence, proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot continue. A division bench of justices AS Gadkari and Rajesh S Patil delivered the verdict after hearing a petition filed by the Chamankars, who had sought to set aside the charge sheet in a money-laundering case registered against them in 2016. The case was based on two Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2015. The proceedings originated from an FIR registered in 2015 by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Mumbai. The case concerned alleged irregularities while awarding and executing contracts for constructing the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, the High Mount Rest House in Malabar Hill, and the Regional Transport Office building in Bandra. KS Chamankar Enterprises had been entrusted with the construction work. In July 2021, a special ACB court discharged the Chamankars from the case, observing that the projects had been carried out in accordance with the contract terms and that no material existed to sustain the allegations. The ACB did not challenge the discharge order. The Chamankars argued before the high court that since they had been discharged from the predicate offence by a competent criminal court, the very basis for continuing with the money-laundering case fell apart....