A local court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of Ajay Sehgal, secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society, in a money-laundering case linked to the Suntec City project in New Chandigarh.
The court also noted serious allegations that Sehgal generated and possessed proceeds of crime and routed or siphoned the money to shield it. Sehgal’s counsel disputed the allegations, arguing that investigators had not identified any specific transaction showing that money earned through the society’s plot sales constituted proceeds of crime. The defence also argued that Sehgal had already secured bail in the predicate FIR and that the police had not filed a chargesheet in that case.
Rejecting the plea, additional sessions judge Hardip Singh held that Sehgal failed to satisfy the mandatory conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 22, 2026 after raids at multiple locations in Mohali, Chandigarh and other parts of Punjab. During the searches, ED officials had recovered ₹ 21 lakh allegedly thrown from the ninth floor of Western Towers in Kharar by persons linked to the accused, besides incriminating documents, digital devices and unaccounted cash to the tune of ₹ 31 lakh from various locations. The ED had registered the case on September 17, 2024, on the basis of a 2022 FIR registered at the Mullanpur police station for alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy in connection with the Suntec City project.
The alleged proceeds of crime amounted to ₹ 348 crore, comprising sale proceeds and unsold inventory of the society and ABS Townships Pvt Ltd, according to the ED’s investigation cited in the order. The agency alleged that the money was diverted to sister concerns of ABS Townships, whose beneficial owners included Sehgal, Sanjay Sehgal and Anil Sehgal.
