The Supreme Court then adjourned the matter because the ASG was not available while it extended the interim measure.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the interim bail granted to Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Aravind Kumar adjourned the matter for hearing on October 14 as Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was not available.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Boinpally, submitted that the petitioner was arrested in October 2022 and referred to the case of AAP leader Manish Sisodia while seeking bail for him.
During the brief hearing, advocate Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the ED, told the court that Boinpally has been out on interim bail due to the condition of his wife, who is suffering from various ailments, since March 6 and requested the court to hear the matter in the presence of the ASG.
The Supreme Court then adjourned the matter because the ASG was not available while it extended the interim measure.
On March 20, the high court noted that the businessman had been in custody for 18 months and ordered his release on interim bail for five weeks. The high court has since extended Boinpally’s interim bail on several occasions.
While granting him interim bail, the high court asked Boinpally to surrender his passport and directed him not to leave the National Capital Region (NCR) except to visit Hyderabad.
The businessman challenged the July 3, 2023 order of the Delhi High Court that dismissed his petition questioning the legality of his arrest in 2022.
The businessman had challenged his arrest in the High Court for failure to comply with Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which regulates the arrest procedure.
Section 19 of the PMLA empowers authorised officers of the Department of Education to arrest persons on the basis of material in their possession, providing a reasonable basis to suspect that an individual has committed an offence punishable by law.
The Delhi government had implemented the excise policy for 2021-22 on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it in late September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Education Department, irregularities were committed in changing the excise policy and undue favours were granted to licensees.
The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR filed after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into alleged irregularities in the implementation of the excise policy.
Boinpally was alleged to have been involved in clandestine meetings and money laundering conspiracy along with another accused, Sameer Mahendru, a businessman involved in liquor trafficking.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 13, 2024 | 12:45 pm IS
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