New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate on a plea filed by A leader Deepak Singla challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which dismissed his bail in a money laundering case.
ED Arrests Singla Amid Ongoing Legal Proceedings
Singla was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 18. Following this, he filed a plea against a September 9 order from the high court. The case is currently being heard by a bench that includes Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal is representing Singla in the Supreme Court.
The prosecution has specifically attributed to the petitioner a role concerning his association with Mahesh Timber Private Limited and allied entities, the alleged routing of funds through Sourabh Enterprises and Jai Durga Enterprises and the alleged transfer of substantial amounts through entities connected with the main accused, the high court observed. The principal outstanding against the company was subsequently found to be ₹ 239.46 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed its chargesheet on August 10, 2020, following which the ED initiated proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The investigation allegedly found that foreign letters of credit were enhanced to ₹ 173.03 crore against their original value of ₹ 21.47 crore and that bills of entry, bills of lading and other import documents were forged to siphon off the funds.
Furthermore, the plea that the petitioner was not arrayed as an accused in the predicate offence or in the earlier prosecution complaint, by itself, would not be sufficient to grant him the concession of bail at this stage, the court held.
