Anil Vailaparampil Abraham Vs Directorate of Enforcement (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered an application for regular bail filed by Anil Vailaparampil Abraham under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (corresponding to Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) read with Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The bail application related to ML Case No. 11 of 2025 arising out of ECIR KLZO-I/21/2023, pending before the Special Court under the PMLA at Calcutta. The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office-I, investigated the matter and alleged offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 read with Section 70 of the PMLA.
The Court noted that, pursuant to administrative directions of the Chief Justice and the Vacation Division Bench dated 5 June 2026, the present regular bail application was heard together with a connected cancellation application before the Regular Division Bench dealing with Ponzi matters to avoid conflicting views.
According to the prosecution, the case arose out of a large multi-state financial fraud involving unauthorized collection of public deposits through credit cooperative societies, particularly M/s Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd. (HICCSL), associated with the Sahara Group. The investigation stemmed from more than 500 FIRs registered across different States under Sections 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, including over 300 scheduled offences under the PMLA. The ED alleged that thousands of retail investors were induced to invest their savings through promises of secured, high-yield financial products. On maturity, the deposits were allegedly not repaid, but instead subjected to roll-overs and redeposits, while funds were allegedly diverted through intra-group transactions to create benami assets, absorb losses and finance unauthorized projects, resulting in deprivation of investors’ funds.
