MUMBAI, Dec. 11 -- A special court for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has rejected the pleas filed by NCP (SP) leader Eknath Khadse, his wife Mandakini, son-in-law Girish Chaudhary and a former state official, Ravindra Mulley, seeking to be discharged from a money-laundering case related to the controversial Bhosari land deal. Special judge Satyanarayan R Navander said that, prima facie, there was a case of criminal misconduct and sufficient material to frame money-laundering charges against all the accused. The case stems from a 2016 land deal in Bhosari involving Khadse's family and a private individual, Abbas Ukani. The police's investigation revealed that the land, originally belonging to the Ukani family, was acquired by the state industries department in 1971. The following year, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) took over the land and allotted it to various companies that had set up their industries. In April 2016, Mandakini Khadse and Chaudhary purchased the land, valued at around Rs.31.03 crore, from the Ukani family for a meagre sum of Rs.3.75 crore. The police alleged that the purchase was made using insider information about an unresolved compensation claim of the original land owners, with an intention to usurp a much higher amount from the government as compensation towards the acquisition. Khadse, the state revenue minister at the time, then used his influence to ensure payment of the compensation in meetings with MIDC officials. However, the four accused had asked the court to discharge them, claiming that no one had complained about the transaction and that no loss had been incurred by the government, either in terms of stamp duty or registration charges. The court, however, rejected these arguments....