New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea filed by A leader Deepak Singla challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which dismissed his bail in a money laundering case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Singla in the top court. Singla was arrested by the ED on May 18. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to ED on the plea filed by Singla against the September 9 order of the high court.
The principal outstanding against the company was subsequently found to be ₹ 239.46 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed its chargesheet on August 10, 2020, following which the ED initiated proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The investigation allegedly found that foreign letters of credit were enhanced to ₹ 173.03 crore against their original value of ₹ 21.47 crore and that bills of entry, bills of lading and other import documents were forged to siphon off the funds.
The prosecution has specifically attributed to the petitioner a role concerning his association with Mahesh Timber Private Limited and allied entities, the alleged routing of funds through Sourabh Enterprises and Jai Durga Enterprises and the alleged transfer of substantial amounts through entities connected with the main accused, the high court observed.
Furthermore, the plea that the petitioner was not arrayed as an accused in the predicate offence or in the earlier prosecution complaint, by itself, would not be sufficient to grant him the concession of bail at this stage, the court held.
