SC notice to ED on AAP leader Deepak Singla's bail plea in money laundering case

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.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to ED on the plea filed by Singla against the September 9 order of the high court.

The case stems from a CBI FIR registered in 2018 on a complaint from an assistant general manager of the erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, alleging that Mahesh Timber Private Ltd, through its Singapore-based subsidiary and in connivance with private persons and a bank official, fraudulently enhanced foreign letters of credit ) through unauthorised SWIFT amendments, without corresponding entries in the bank's Finacle system, causing an alleged wrongful loss of about ₹ 155.21 crore to the bank.

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.

Singla was arraigned as an accused in the ED's second supplementary prosecution complaint, with the prosecution alleging that he knowingly assisted the main accused in the concealment, layering and routing of proceeds of crime through his personal accounts and connected entities.

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 material relied upon by the ED, at this stage, prima facie reflects that the role attributed to the petitioner is required to be examined in the context of the larger conspiracy and the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime, it had said.

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.

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