The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Supertech's Chairman RK Arora's plea seeking default bail in a money laundering case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Additionally, the High Court disposed of ED's plea challenging the interim bail granted to Arora, which the investigating agency had questioned on health grounds.
The single-judge bench of Justice Manoj Ohri termed ED's plea as infructuous, as Arora's interim bail period is set to end on February 15th.
As per Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), investigation in a criminal case must be completed within a specified time frame. Non-completion of probe within the specified time period makes an arrested or detained accused eligible for default bail.
The High Court is also slated to hear Arora's plea against dismissal of his regular bail plea on 21st February, where a response from ED was sought by the court.
On 24th January, a trial court in Delhi had dismissed Arora's plea for regular bail. The trial court has already taken cognizance of ED's chargesheet against Arora and other accused in the money laundering case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against Supertech's Chairman, RK Arora in relation to a money laundering case in Delhi's Patiala House Court.
Arora was arrested on June 27 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Earlier, ED had informed the court that a total of 23 FIRs were registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police, Haryana Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police against Supertech Limited and its group companies.
The FIRs under IPC's Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 and 471 allege that at least 670 homebuyers were cheated of an amount of ₹164 crores. ED has also alleged that the amount collected by Supertech was diverted to its group companies to purchase properties and make illegal/wrongful gains.
