Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday declined to interfere in the hearing of the remand application filed by Kamal Kishore Gupta and Babulal Verma, the two accused in the Yes Bank money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) approached the HC challenging the interim bail granted by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court to the duo on Monday.

The interim bail was granted after the police had closed its investigation in a scheduled offence based on which the PMLA was invoked. The special court held that it did not have jurisdiction as the original offence did not survive and hence granted bail to the promoters of Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd. who were arrested in January 2021.

On Wednesday, the single judge bench of justice Bharati Dangre, while hearing ED’s plea, was informed by special counsel Hiten Venegaonkar that the special court order was passed without hearing the agency.

Venegaonkar submitted that the special judge was wrong in saying that he was powerless in light of the Supreme Court order, which held that whenever a predicate offence did not survive, PMLA also would not survive as it was an arguable point.

“The special judge has now said he will hear the main application which challenges remand on a day-to-day basis. Some message must be sent to the trial court,” Venegaonkar urged the bench.

However, justice Dangre said that the HC would not intervene as the trial court was seized of the matter and would decide the same. “Argue what it is to be argued before the trial court. The high court will intervene after the trial court is done. Till the trial court is seized of the matter, let it continue hearing. Experienced people are sitting on the dais there. I do not want to get influenced by observations (by a special judge) made at an interim stage,” remarked justice Dangre.

The Supreme Court, in its order on PMLA last month, observed that if a person is absolved by a court in the scheduled offence filed against them, there can be no separate action for money laundering against such a person.

Following the Supreme Court order, the special PMLA court ordered the release of the two men booked for alleged money laundering, noting that the proceedings under PMLA cannot continue in the absence of a scheduled offence.

The special court had said that it will hear the ED and the lawyer for the two accused at length on the issue in due course. Pending a final decision, the special court directed the interim release of the duo to avoid their illegal detention and said that it would hear the matter daily considering ED’s urgency to hear the plea. Verma and Gupta were released on a personal bond of ₹5 lakh.

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Builders seek discharge from the money laundering case

A day after being released from prison, Omkar Developers’ chairman Kamal Kishore Gupta and managing director Babulal Verma, on Wednesday filed a plea before the special PMLA court seeking discharge from the money laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against them. Advocates Vijay Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal moved pleas of discharge for both the accused on the ground that the ‘scheduled offence’ registered at City Chowk police station in Aurangabad based on which the money laundering case was initiated itself had been closed and the closure report was accepted by a local court on February 12, 2021. The discharge plea is filed based on the recent Supreme Court verdict, holding that a money laundering case doesn’t survive after the scheduled offence is quashed or closed. ED sought time to respond to the plea after which the matter was posted for hearing on Friday.

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