CHANDIGARH: The two directors of the M3M group of companies have approached the Special PMLA Court in Panchkula to halt the trial in the case related to the alleged “cash for favour” scam involving former CBI judge Sudhir Parmar.
The M3M directors – Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal – submitted that the trial should be halted as the Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) was yet to conclude the investigations into the case linked to it.
Earlier, the Bansals along with one more accused had moved an application seeking details and copies of the relied and un-relied documents of the case from the ED. The Bansals made the plea through their defense counsel last month.
Rajiv Goyal, the Special Judge for the PMLA cases, on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the case to Nov 26 after partial hearing of arguments from both sides. The development relates to the case registered by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection to detection of proceeds of crime in the case registered by the ACB into the alleged “cash for favor” scam.
As per information, the Bansals, who were first to be arrested by the ED, have based their plea on the basis of orders to halt the hearing into the alleged industrial plots allotment scam involving former chief minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other beneficiaries and officials of the now Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP).
Notably on June 20, the PMLA court had paused the trial of the case into the alleged industrial plots allotment scam after three accused – Chandigarh Softech Private Limited through their authorised representative K Arjun Singh; Kanwar Preet Singh Sandhu; and Pardeep – had sought a stay on the proceedings under the PMLA.
The defence counsel had contended that since the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) had not finalised the investigations or filed any final report in the case, the court should either drop the charges or should stay the proceedings. Accordingly, acceding to the request of the defence counsel, the court had paused the proceedings.
The ACB case involving M3M directors and Sudhir Parmar dates back to April 17, 2023, when the bureau had registered a case at ACB police station in Panchkula, accusing Parmar of misappropriating his position as presiding officer and giving relief in lieu of cash to the builders.
The Bansals, along with another builder Lalit Goyal, too were named as accused in the case. Consequently, the ED had also registered an enforcement complaint information report (ECIR) on June 13, 2023. The Bansals were the first to be arrested, followed by the arrest of Ajay Parmar, Sudhir Parmar and others.
