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Last week, the Supreme Court of India granted Ambience Group promoter Raj Singh Gehlot an extension of four weeks of protection from arrest in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 800 crore. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, opposed the grant of relief, arguing that the person who siphoned off hundreds of crores of rupees should not be granted bail allegedly on false medical grounds. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Gehlot, opposed these submissions. The court ordered the trial court to decide on the bail application, if filed, during this period.
Gehlot has filed three petitions in the Supreme Court challenging various orders of the Delhi High Court and the trial court declining him the relief. The top court has been extending the protection from arrest from time to time in the case. In March 2021, the Delhi High Court dismissed the bail plea by Gehlot in the money laundering case.
The ED had earlier raided Gehlot, his company Aman Hospitality Private Limited (AHPL), some other firms of the Ambience Group, director in the company Dayanand Singh, Mohan Singh Gehlot, and their associates. The ED case against Gehlot is based on a 2019 FIR of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Jammu against AHPL and its directors for alleged money laundering in the construction and development of the five-star Leela Ambience Convention Hotel located near Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi.
The ED claimed its probe found that a large part of the loan amount of more than Rs 800 crore, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks for the hotel project, was siphoned off by AHPL, Raj Singh Gehlot, and his associates through a web of companies owned and controlled by them. In October 2021, a Delhi trial court had refused to grant bail to Gehlot, saying there was a strong possibility that he could hamper the investigation if released on bail.
The ED's opposition to the grant of relief on fake medical grounds underscores the challenges in the prosecution of economic offenders in India, who often seek to evade justice by manipulating the legal system. The government has taken a number of measures in recent years to strengthen the legal framework for dealing with economic offences, such as enacting the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, and the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act, 2002. The Supreme Court's order to constitute a medical board to examine Gehlot highlights the importance of impartial medical evidence in such cases. It remains to be seen how the trial court will decide on Gehlot's bail application in the coming weeks.
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