ED recovered ₹23,000 cr laundered money, distributed it to victims: SG to SC
₹ 23,000 cr laundered money, distributed it to victims: SG to SC
The statement was made by the top law officer before a special bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma during the open court hearing on a batch of pleas seeking review of the controversial May 2 judgement of the apex court.
The apex court had on May 2 ordered liquidation of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited while setting aside a resolution plan of JSW Steel Limited for the ailing firm.
The CJI-led bench on July 31 recalled the verdict and decided to hear afresh the review pleas in the high stake matter.
During the hearing on the review pleas, a lawyer referred to the Enforcement Directorate's probe in the BPSL case as well.
'Here also ED is there,' the CJI quipped.
In response, the solicitor general said, 'Let me tell a fact, which was never said in any court, and that is …ED has recovered ₹23,000 crore and given it to the victims".
The law officer said recovered money does not remain with the state exchequer and goes to the victims of financial crimes.
'What is the conviction rate,' the CJI asked.
Mehta said conviction rates in penal offences are also very low, and referred to the ills plaguing the criminal justice system in the country as the key reason for it.
To which, the CJI said, 'Even if they are not convicted you have been successful in sentencing them almost without a trial for years together".
The law officer said, 'In some of the cases where the politicians were raided, where the cash was found, our machines stopped functioning because of the huge cash…we had to bring new machines". He added that some narratives are being built on YouTube programmes when some big politicians are caught.
The CJI said, 'We do not decide matters on narratives… I don't see news channels. I see headlines in newspapers only in the morning for 10-15 minutes".
The law officer said he knew the cases are not decided by the judges on the narratives being built on social media and outside courtrooms.
Several benches of the top court have been critical of alleged high handedness of the ED especially in cases involving opposition leaders in money laundering cases.
The CJI-led bench on July 21, in a different case, had observed that the Enforcement Directorate was "crossing all limits".
The suo motu matter pertained to summoning of two senior advocates by the ED for offering legal advice or representing clients during investigations.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Day after heavy rain brings parts of Delhi to halt, AAP alleges ‘desilting scam' linked to ex-chief secy
A day after heavy rain brought parts of the Capital to a standstill, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday accused the BJP-led government of destroying documents to shield former chief secretary Naresh Kumar in a 'drain desilting scam'. The Delhi BJP, however, dismissed the allegations as a 'political stunt.' Citing an RTI reply, Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed Chief Secretary Dharmendra's office denied receiving his complaint on the matter, despite copies being available with the reporters and on social media. 'This is a direct criminal offence…When I wrote this letter last year, I held a press conference and posted it on social media. The BJP government is now saying they have no record of it. This is an attempt to hide corruption, shield Naresh Kumar, and destroy evidence,' Bharadwaj alleged at a press conference. The AAP leader criticised the BJP-led government for failing to resolve the Capital's waterlogging woes. 'Seven people died in one incident when a wall collapsed during rain yesterday. In another heart-wrenching case, a two-and-a-half-year-old drowned in an open sewer outside his house on Raksha Bandhan,' he said. The AAP leader said that the Delhi High Court had ordered a third-party independent audit of desilting works, but claimed the audit had not been carried out despite repeated reminders to the Chief Secretary and letters to the Union Home Ministry. 'When I filed an RTI on July 21 seeking file notings, correspondence, and directions related to my June 13, 2024 complaint, the Chief Secretary's office replied on July 29 that no such letter had been received. This is proof that documents are being destroyed,' Bharadwaj said. In response, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said that the Kejriwal government had a poor record on desilting. 'Before accusing us, Saurabh Bharadwaj should clarify whether it's not true that between 2015 and 2018, due to the Kejriwal government's failure to carry out desilting, an NGO had to approach the Delhi High Court demanding an audit,' Sachdeva said. He alleged that 'scams' in the name of desilting were committed annually between 2015 and 2024 during AAP rule, and 'under the protection' of the AAP government, involving officials from the Public Works Department, Flood Control Department, and Delhi Jal Board, along with local MLAs. Sachdeva also questioned Bharadwaj's claim about the missing letter. 'The reality of the Kejriwal government was that they would tweet about writing letters to the central government or the LG, but conveniently 'forget' to send them through official channels. Possibly, Bharadwaj did the same — because government offices do not lose letters,' he said.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Ex-R&AW officer in Pannun case linked to Mahadev app staff in Dubai: Delhi Police
After he was accused of kidnapping and robbing a Delhi businessman, Vikash Yadav, the former R&AW officer who was named by US authorities as a co-conspirator in an alleged plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is now being linked to an alleged member of the 'Mahadev Online Book' betting racket, Delhi police records show. On December 18, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Yadav after an FIR was filed against him by a Rohini resident, accusing him of extortion and kidnapping and linking him to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The arrest came just three weeks after Yadav's name was listed in the Pannun case by US authorities. Police records show the probe in the Rohini case against Yadav led to the arrest on July 1 this year of a man identified as Jalaluddin alias Sameer in Chanakyapuri for his alleged key role in the criminal conspiracy. 'The probe revealed that Jalaluddin, who worked with the online book app in Dubai, approached Yadav to kidnap the complainant and threaten him as he was not paying up money owed. Yadav roped in his associate Khan, who works as a car dealer, and they got Rs 16 lakh through hawala from Jalaluddin,' sources said. The investigation officer (IO) is likely to inform the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the Mahadev case, about Jalaluddin, the sources said. In the Rohini case FIR, the complainant had alleged that after kidnapping him, Yadav claimed there was a 'supari' (contract) to eliminate him from gangster Lawrence Bishnoi at the behest of Dubai-based Jalaluddin. 'The complainant told them he had nothing to do with Lawrence Bishnoi, but Abdullah Khan (Yadav's alleged associate) threatened him with a pistol. They told him that he was not making some pending payment to Jalaluddin. Yadav also received a call from Jalaluddin and he mentioned that the first dose of injection had been given to him,' the complainant alleged in the FIR. The complainant had also claimed he was 'hit on my head' by Khan, and forced to hand over his gold chain and rings. He claimed they also visited a café that he runs and took cash from the outlet. On July 23, while hearing a bail plea by Jalaluddin, Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler ruled that he 'should not leave the country without prior permission of the court, his passport is already seized by the IO and he should not tamper with evidence, influence witnesses, or contact the complainant directly or indirectly'. All the three accused, including Yadav, are out on bail, and police have started preparing a supplementary chargesheet in the Rohini case. The complainant's advocate, Rahul Thukral, said they will oppose Jalaluddin's bail in the Delhi High Court. 'After the registration of the FIR in 2023, he was threatening the complainant and since he is out on bail, the complainant is still scared,' he said. The Mahadev betting app scam relates to alleged money-laundering totalling an estimated Rs 6,000 crore by the promoters through 'illegal acts of online betting' on various social media platforms. The ED has filed two chargesheets in a Chhattisgarh court after conducting multiple raids. Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Robert Vadra shifted blame to deceased persons: ED charge sheet
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed in its charge sheet filed last month that Robert Vadra tried to mislead investigators by shifting the blame for the land deal in Gurugram's Shikohpur on three deceased persons, saying they handled such deals, and feigning ignorance about real estate matters from that period. Robert Vadra was questioned by the agency on April 15 and 16 this year and his statements to ED are part of the charge sheet. (ANI) The businessman husband of Congress member of Parliament, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has refused to recognise the person who actually signed on the ₹7.5 crore land deal in 2008, according to the charge sheet, reviewed by HT. The financial crimes probe agency filed the charge sheet on July 17, naming Vadra, two other individuals and eight companies as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that Vadra received proceeds of crime worth ₹58 crore in the Shikohpur deal. The agency also attached 43 immovable properties worth over ₹38 crore linked to him, including an apartment in the posh The Aralias in Gurugram. It is alleged that SLHPL (Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd), a company of Robert Vadra, purchased 3.53 acres of land in Shikohpur from Omkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd (OPPL) on February 12, 2008, for ₹7.50 crore. Four years later, in September 2012, the company sold this 3.53-acre land to realty major DLF for ₹58 crore. The land deal got into controversy in October 2012 after IAS officer Ashok Khemka, then posted as the director general of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration of Haryana, cancelled the mutation of this, categorising the transaction as violative of the state consolidation act and some related procedures. Haryana police filed a case in the matter on September 1, 2018. The son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was questioned by the agency on April 15 and 16 this year, and his statements to ED are part of the charge sheet. To most of the queries put up to him, Vadra has claimed that he 'acted on behest of the understanding and guidance of three people -- Late Rajesh Khurana, Late H L Pahwa and Late Mahesh Nagar -- in all real estate matters' and that he had 'no knowledge of real estate and technical details of real estate matters in the early years of 2008' as it was a new business for him. Asserting that Robert Vadra has been evasive in his replies, ED's charge sheet says 'the documentary evidence collected during the course of investigation clearly establishes that Vadra is trying to mislead the investigation as he has put the entire onus with regards to purchase of land, seeking licence for commercial property on three deceased persons: Pahwa, Khurana and Nagar. On the contrary, the documentary evidence clearly provides that none of these persons were involved in the said transaction but the authorised persons were Sunil Kumar and Dhirendra Dadwal, the signatories on behalf of Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd'. Vadra, according to his statement, part of the charge sheet, said he didn't know Sunil Kumar and Dhirendra Dadwal. The charge sheet against the businessman further states that Vadra created structures to launder the proceeds of crime generated from criminal activities. It said Vadra acquired the land in Shikohpur by undervaluing it and concealing the fact that the stamp duty was paid by the seller. HT reached out to Vadra for a comment, but there was no response until the time of going to press. He has previously termed the action against him as nothing more than a 'political witch hunt.'
