Case Law Details
Sai Chandrasekhar Vs Directorate of Enforcement (Delhi High Court)
Conclusion: Assesssee was admitted to bail linked to bank loan fraud arrested by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of Trial Court as it was not the case of the prosecution that the accused was of such character and stature that his mere presence at large would intimidate the witnesses and there was no material on record to show that if released on bail, he would tamper with the evidence or subvert the course of justice.
Held: The facts of the case were that an FIR was registered by Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on the complaint about the offence under section 409/420 and 120B IPC of deliberately manipulating/falsifying stocks, inventories of M/s Bush Foods Pvt. Ltd which resulted in huge account fraud of approximately Rs.1000 crore. As per ED the role of accused was that he was employee of M/s H Netherland, BV collided with Virkaran Avasthi to cheat M/s H Netherland. He joined M/s H in September, 2009 and was responsible for H’s Agri-business, investment in rice, sugar etc. in South-East Asia etc. He had played important role in the business transaction between M/s Bush Foods and M/s H Foods. After completion of deal on 28.03.2013, accused was rewarded by Mr.Virkaran Avasthi as Rs.7.0 Crore was received by him through M/s V&R Overseas, out of which Rs.6.0 Crore was paid directly to the account of one Mr. R.V.Gowda, account maintained with UCO Bank, Bangalore, who had sold him his property in Bangalore. Further from the account of M/s V&R Overseas, Rs.50.0 Lac were transferred to the account of Mr. C. Janardan, father of accused on 09.04.2013 and another Rs.50.0 Lac to the account of his mother. Further, as per investigation, accused had also received Rs.13.79 crore in his company namely M/s Harin Ventures from the joint account of Virkaran Avasthi and RitikaAvasthi. It was held that assessee(accused) was in custody since 27.10.2020. Nothing had been placed on record to show that assessee was a flight risk and according to assessee, assessee was granted permission to go to Sri Lanka for two weeks and thereafter he returned, the fact which had not been denied by assessee. As far as the question of tampering was concerned, the evidence was documentary in nature and the documents and digital evidence is in the custody of the prosecuting agency. As far as the question of influencing the witnesses was concerned, no material had been placed on record by the respondent to show that anyone on behalf of assessee had tried to influence the witness of this case in any manner whatsoever. A vague allegation that accused might tamper with the evidence or witnesses might not be a ground to refuse the bail and it was not the case of the prosecution that the accused was of such character and stature that his mere presence at large would intimidate the witnesses and there was no material on record to show that if released on bail, he would tamper with the evidence or subvert the course of justice. As per the record, moveable and immovable properties had already been attached, the statement of the witness had also been recorded. The FIR was registered way back in 2014 and there was nothing to show that assessee tried to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence. Therefore, assesssee was admitted to bail on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of Trial Court, subject to the condition that he should not leave the country without permission of the Special Court, the passport if already not deposited, should be deposited with the Special Court, he should join the investigation as and when required by the prosecuting agency and he should not tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses in any manner. The bail application was disposed of accordingly.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER /JUDGEMENT
1. By way of this order, I shall dispose of the present petition filed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. on behalf of the petitioner for grant of regular bail in case ECIR/02/DZCR/2019 dated 26.02.2019 U/s 3/4 PMLA, 2002.
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