'No rule one must spend a year in jail for relief': Supreme Court grants bail in money laundering case
The Supreme Court has said 'there was 'no rule' that a person accused of money laundering ought to spend a year in jail before being give bail as it allowed the relief to a businessman'.
A Bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan granted bail to businessman Anwar Dhebar in the alleged ₹2,000 crore liquor scam case and said, "It is not a rule to be in custody for a year to get bail".
He was arrested in August last year and has spent over nine months in jail.
The Supreme Court said the maximum punishment for the offence alleged was seven years, and that the trial against Mr. Dhebar was unlikely to start any time soon given the large number of witnesses.
"The appellant was arrested on August 8, 2024. Forty witnesses have been cited. Investigation is in progress. In the predicate offence there are 450 witnesses. In predicate offence cognisance has not been taken. Therefore there is no possibility of trial commencing in near future. The maximum punishment is seven years," it noted.
Referring to the Senthil Balaji verdict, the Court held Mr. Dhebar was entitled to be released on bail with stringent terms and conditions.
"He shall surrender passport, if any," the Bench added.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) counsel urged the Bench not to release the accused on bail saying he was arrested in August last year and it hadn't even been a year of his custody.
The ED lawyer said the Supreme Court was following the "one-year custody benchmark" to grant bail in various cases and submitted the yardstick ought to be followed in Mr. Dhebar's case.
'The accused,' the ED lawyer said, 'was politically connected and an influential person, and his bail would hamper the trial'.
The Supreme Court, however, asked the trial court to release the accused within a week on terms and conditions fixed by the special court.
Mr. Dhebar, brother of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, was the first to be arrested in the money laundering case stemming from an Income Tax department charge sheet filed in connection with alleged tax evasion and irregularities in liquor trade in Chhattisgarh and some other states.
The ED, in the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) submitted in the case in a PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court in Raipur on July 4, claimed ₹2,161 crore of corruption money was generated in the "liquor scam" that began in 2019 in Chhattisgarh and this amount should have gone to the State Exchequer.
The ED alleged a syndicate comprising senior bureaucrats, politicians, their associates and officials of the State Excise Department had indulged in irregularities.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
ED attaches properties worth 2.9cr in ‘double money scam'
Bhopal: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bhopal Zonal Office, has provisionally attached 25 immovable properties worth Rs 2.9 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the infamous "Double Money Scam. " The action follows an investigation initiated by the ED based on three FIRs registered at two police stations in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh. The cases were filed under various sections of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. Police had earlier filed charge sheets against several accused individuals involved in the case. According to the ED, the investigation revealed that the accused lured unsuspecting individuals by promising to double their money within a short period. In some cases, the accused even issued postdated cheques as assurance of returns. However, they failed to repay the promised amounts, leading to multiple FIRs. Following the registration of these FIRs and subsequent charge sheets, the ED Bhopal recorded an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the PMLA to initiate a probe into the money laundering aspects of the scam. The agency found that the accused collected funds from investors either in cash or by direct deposits into the bank accounts of their proprietorship firms. These proceeds of crime were later used to purchase immovable properties, many of which were registered in the names of the accused, their family members, or close associates. Further investigation into the case is currently underway.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
ED summons Dino Morea in Mithi desilting case next wk
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actor Dino Morea for questioning next week, following searches at his premises regarding a money laundering case linked to the Mithi river desilting scam that caused a Rs 65 crore loss to the BMC. The ED said BMC officials and contractors had created a cartel to secure civic tenders at inflated rates, and they are investigating BMC engineer Prashant Ramgude in the case. In a press release, the ED said, "The evidence collected during the course of investigation and search operation prima facie indicates that Prashant Ramgude, Bhupendra Purohit, Jay Joshi, Ketan Kadam, officials of Matprop Technical Service Pvt Ltd and others colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders related to the desilting of the Mithi river." The ED release said the cartel formation "effectively conferred a monopoly in the award of desilting contracts of Mithi river and caused payments at inflated rates for desilting works, resulting in undue gains to the contractors and associated parties" causing financial loss to the public exchequer". It said illegal gains were concealed through layering via shell companies and firms established through collaboration among Ketan Kadam, Bhupendra Purohit, Prashant Ramgude, and other individuals.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Assam to use 75-yr-old law to push back illegal migrants
Guwahati: Assam govt is preparing to use a 75-year-old previously overlooked law to pushback illegal migrants from the state without any judicial intervention immediately after their identification. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court , while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act (October, 2024), had said there is no legal requirement for the Assam govt to always approach the judiciary to identify foreigners and "we are examining this". "There is an old law called the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), and during hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court said this Act is still valid. Under its provisions, even a district commissioner can issue an order for immediate pushback of illegal immigrants," he added. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this, and we weren't aware of it either," Himanta added. He said in the past few days, the entire matter has come to light and the state govt will now discuss it seriously. "The process of identifying foreigners, which had paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be sped up a bit. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner and we don't send them to a tribunal. We will straightway push them back. Preparations for this have been ongoing over the last few days," he said. He underlined that those who have moved courts will not be pushed back for now. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 (IEAA) empowers the central govt to order expulsion of any person or class of persons who have come into Assam from outside India, either before or after the commencement of this Act, and whose stay in Assam is detrimental to the interests of the general public of India or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam. Sarma was referring to the five-member Constitution Bench headed by then chief justice DY Chandrachud on October 17, 2024 which upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala giving the sole dissenting opinion. Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra in their joint order said the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 "shall be effectively employed for the purpose of identification of illegal immigrants." They noted that the IEAA grants "Central Government the power to direct the removal of immigrants who are detrimental to the interests of India." "If there is any other piece of legislation such as the IEAA, under which the status of an immigrant can be determined, we see no reason as to why such statutory detection shall also not be given effect to, for the purposes of deportation. We thus hold that the provisions of IEAA shall also be read into Section 6A and be applied along with the Foreigners Act, 1946 for the purpose of detection and deportation of foreigners," the judges noted in their order. WHAT IS IEAA Enacted even before the immigrants from West and East Pakistan were considered foreigners under Foreigners Act The Statement of Objects and Reasons states the Act was enacted to deal with the large scale immigration of migrants from East Bengal to Assam Other statutory enactments to address the influx of immigrants in Assam Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Passport Act, 1967. Guwahati: Assam govt is preparing to use a 75-year-old previously overlooked law to pushback illegal migrants from the state without any judicial intervention immediately after their identification. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act (October, 2024), had said there is no legal requirement for the Assam govt to always approach the judiciary to identify foreigners and "we are examining this". "There is an old law called the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), and during hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court said this Act is still valid. Under its provisions, even a district commissioner can issue an order for immediate pushback of illegal immigrants," he added. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this, and we weren't aware of it either," Himanta added. He said in the past few days, the entire matter has come to light and the state govt will now discuss it seriously. "The process of identifying foreigners, which had paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be sped up a bit. This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner and we don't send them to a tribunal. We will straightway push them back. Preparations for this have been ongoing over the last few days," he said. He underlined that those who have moved courts will not be pushed back for now. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 (IEAA) empowers the central govt to order expulsion of any person or class of persons who have come into Assam from outside India, either before or after the commencement of this Act, and whose stay in Assam is detrimental to the interests of the general public of India or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam. Sarma was referring to the five-member Constitution Bench headed by then chief justice DY Chandrachud on October 17, 2024 which upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala giving the sole dissenting opinion. Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra in their joint order said the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 "shall be effectively employed for the purpose of identification of illegal immigrants." They noted that the IEAA grants "Central Government the power to direct the removal of immigrants who are detrimental to the interests of India." "If there is any other piece of legislation such as the IEAA, under which the status of an immigrant can be determined, we see no reason as to why such statutory detection shall also not be given effect to, for the purposes of deportation. We thus hold that the provisions of IEAA shall also be read into Section 6A and be applied along with the Foreigners Act, 1946 for the purpose of detection and deportation of foreigners," the judges noted in their order. WHAT IS IEAA Enacted even before the immigrants from West and East Pakistan were considered foreigners under Foreigners Act The Statement of Objects and Reasons states the Act was enacted to deal with the large scale immigration of migrants from East Bengal to Assam Other statutory enactments to address the influx of immigrants in Assam Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Passport Act, 1967.
