Sanjay Badaya Vs Directorate of Enforcement (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court granted bail to Sanjay Badaya in proceedings arising from allegations of money laundering connected with the award of government contracts by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). The petitioner was implicated in an investigation registered by the Directorate of Enforcement under ECIR No. JPZO/29/2023 dated 21 August 2023. The allegations concerned financial transactions allegedly connected with the procurement of government tenders and the receipt of money on behalf of a Minister associated with the department. The petitioner approached the Supreme Court after the Rajasthan High Court had rejected his application for regular bail. The central question before the Supreme Court was whether the petitioner should be granted bail having regard to the treatment of a similarly situated co-accused, the nature of the prosecution evidence and the likely duration of the criminal trial.
The petitioner principally relied upon the Supreme Court’s earlier order dated 9 September 2024 in Peeyush Jain Vs Enforcement Director (Supreme Court); Criminal Appeal No. 3754/2024; 09/09/2024. In that case, a coordinate Bench had granted bail to Peeyush Jain, who was implicated in substantially similar allegations arising from the same investigation. The petitioner submitted that the circumstances supporting the grant of bail to Peeyush Jain were equally applicable to him. The Supreme Court examined the nature of the allegations against both accused and found substantial similarities between their respective cases. The Court considered the earlier bail order particularly relevant because it concerned allegations arising from the same underlying transactions and investigation.
