NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to a businessman in a money laundering case, noting that there was no possibility of the proceedings concluding in the near future and this could deny him the “fundamental right” of a speedy trial. The Rs 500 crore money laundering case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal granted relief to Madhav Acharya, noting that he had already spent four months and 18 days in judicial custody.
The ED had claimed that Acharya was a “key managerial personnel” of the Avantha group, which has been booked by the agency in the case.
“Since the speedy trial of the accused is his fundamental right, which could be derailed due to the pendency of further investigations and repeated supplementary prosecution complaints… so there is no reasonable possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future.
“The accused has already spent four months and 18 days in judicial custody, therefore, the accused cannot be kept behind bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of speedy completion of trial, which in turn would deprive him of his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the judge said.
The court accepted the submissions made by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the accused, stating that there were “prima facie” reasonable grounds to believe that the accused was not guilty of the offences of money laundering nor was there any likelihood that he would commit the offence again when on bail.
The accused cannot be said to be a flight risk. The prosecution complaint regarding him has already been filed in which the entire evidence of the ED is documentary or digital in nature. Therefore, there are no chances of tampering with the evidence or influencing witnesses, the court said.
The accused has deep roots in society, having 35 years of professional experience in the corporate world, it added.
The ED had filed a case against Thapar, Avantha Realty Ltd., Oyster Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. and others, alleging criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery for diversion of public money from 2017 to 2019.
According to the ED, proceeds of crime worth approximately Rs 500.11 crore were laundered through various companies which were being controlled and beneficially owned directly or indirectly by Thapar.
The probe revealed that sham agreements were made by these entities to fraudulently obtain huge amounts, more than 500 crore, from banks and further by different modes of layering the money was laundered and the loan account thus turned NPA, causing a loss of huge public money, the agency had said.
