The Delhi High
Court has dismissed a plea by R K Arora, the chairman and promoter of real
estate major Supertech Group, seeking default bail in a money laundering case.
The high court
rejected Arora's contention that on the date of filing of the prosecution
complaint (charge sheet) the investigation was incomplete as the chargesheet
was not accompanied by FSL report and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had
issued summons to another person in the case after filing the prosecution
complaint.
The respondent
(ED) has already submitted the requisite documents for obtaining expert opinion
from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Preparation of the FSL report is
not in the control of the investigating agency, though it can take steps for
expediting the process.
It is the
categorical stand of the respondent that the investigation against the present
petitioner is complete. Mere issuance of summons to another person or seeking
leave of the court to file additional evidence, without there being any other
sufficient material to challenge, the petitioner (Arora) cannot be held to be
entitled to a default bail. Consequently, I find no merit in the petition and
the same is accordingly dismissed, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said in an order
passed on March 5 and made available on Thursday.
As per Section
167(2) of the CrPC, when an accused is arrested and detained in custody, the
investigation must be completed within a specified time frame, failing which
the accused shall be released on default bail.
Arora had
challenged a trial court's October 14, 2023 order by which he was denied
default bail in the case.
Arora contended
before the high court that on the date of filing of the prosecution complaint,
the investigation was incomplete as the complaint was not accompanied by FSL
report and that the ED, after filing the complaint, had issued summons to Anil
Kumar Jain, a director of Supertech, on September 14, 2023 which implied that
investigation was still pending, including against Arora.
The high court
said the right to default bail has been recognised as a statutory right which
accrues to an accused only if the chargesheet or prosecution complaint (ED's
equivalent of chargesheet) has not been filed within the stipulated period.
The courts have
also in no uncertain terms held that filing of an incomplete charge sheet/
complaint would not come in the way of this indefeasible right of the accused.
In the present
case indisputably, the respondent had filed its complaint within the period of
60 days. The application for default bail came to be filed approximately 30
days after filing of the complaint, it said.
The ED, in its
prosecution complaint filed before the trial court, had claimed that there was
sufficient evidence to prosecute Arora for the offence of laundering money.
Arora was
arrested on June 27, 2023 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA).
The money
laundering case against the Supertech group, its directors and promoters, stems
from a clutch of FIRs registered by police in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar
Pradesh.
The ED has been
probing 26 FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh police against Supertech Ltd and its group companies for alleged
criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust and forgery. They
have been accused of defrauding at least 670 home buyers of Rs 164 crore.
According to the
charge sheet, the company and its directors hatched a "criminal conspiracy"
to cheat people by collecting funds from prospective home buyers in advance
against flats booked in their real estate projects.
The company did
not adhere to the agreed obligation of providing possession of the flats in
time and "defrauded" the general public, the agency said.
The funds were
"misappropriated and diverted" for buying land in the name of other
group companies which were pledged as collateral to borrow funds from banks and
financial institutions, it alleged.
The ED alleged that
the accused persons have acquired properties and made illegal/ wrongful gain
arising out of the proceeds of crime by involving, indulging and commissioning
criminal activities related to scheduled offences.