Priya Aditi
On Friday, the SC refused to interfere with the bail granted to Preeti Chandra, the wife of former Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra, by the Delhi high court in a money laundering case. However, the court ordered her not to leave the National Capital Region (NCR) or dispose of any property without the permission of the trial court.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra stated, “We are not inclined to interfere with the high court’s order under Article 136 of the Constitution, especially since she has been in custody for 620 days.”
The Court also noted the proviso to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) regarding the granting of bond, which states, “Provided that a person under 16 years of age, a woman, or a sick or infirm person may be released on bail if the special court so orders.”
The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the Delhi high court’s order on the grounds that investigations revealed her “active involvement” in money laundering proceeds of crime not only as the wife of Sanjay Chandra, but also as a director in several companies located in the Cayman Islands, Singapore, and Mauritius that were used to launder the money collected from innocent homebuyers who invested in Unitech housing projects.
In order to assuage the concerns of the ED, the bench imposed additional conditions for Preeti’s parole, including that she not leave the NCR region, report to the investigating officer every two weeks, and not dispose of property without the special PMLA court’s permission.
Preeti’s counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, informed the court that she had already renounced her foreign citizenship and applied for Indian citizenship. He noted that the Indian government should be requested to expedite her citizenship application because, if she loses her current citizenship, she will be rendered stateless.
In its decree, the Delhi high court ruled that Preeti must renounce her citizenship in the Dominican Republic, a nation with no extradition treaty with India.
The Supreme Court instructed Sibal, “You must renounce your citizenship.” We are aware of the amount of money that has left the country for the Cayman Islands.”
Interestingly, CJI Chandrachud was a member of the bench that ordered a forensic audit of the Unitech group, which revealed that the promoters of Unitech unlawfully diverted homebuyer funds abroad.
To afford Indian authorities time to process her request for Indian citizenship, however, “The application (for citizenship) shall be processed in accordance with the law.” The deadline for her to renounce her citizenship of the Dominican Republic has been extended by two weeks, the court ruled.
Sibal argued that the crime for which Preeti Chandra is incarcerated carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. She was detained on October 4, 2021, but the indictment has not yet been filed. In this scenario, he stated that there was no chance of the trial commencing shortly, so she is eligible to remain out on bail.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, presented the court with evidence indicating that the Unitech group diverted Rs.380 crore from the money entrusted by homebuyers and stashed it abroad through a web of companies. From this sum, Rs. 107.4 billion was transmitted to a company called Prakausali via its holding company, Mayfair, with Preeti Chandra serving as the director of both firms.
Preeti has also been accused of co-founding, supervising, and managing a front company named Trikar Group with her spouse. Between 2015 and 2018, a total of Rs.401 crore was allegedly transferred into Unitech’s Indian entities from the foreign accounts of Trikar Group in the Cayman Islands, Singapore, and Mauritius, and a quantity of Rs.401 crore was deposited into Unitech’s Indian accounts.
In response to ED’s submissions, the Supreme Court stated, “There is abundant evidence against her.” But what concerns us is that the utmost sentence is seven years, she has already spent over 600 days in custody, and the fact that she is a woman may lessen the severity of Section 45. With over 7,000 pages of documents and hundreds of witnesses to be examined, her sentence will be completed by the time the trial concludes.
ASG Raju stated that the delay in the investigation was attributable to the fact that the evidence against the accused was dispersed across several countries.
In response to his request, the bench stated that a woman’s gender does not automatically entitle her to bail, as the prosecutor felt that this order could be used as a precedent in other cases to obtain bail.
Also read this:Three IPOs to hit Dalal Street tomorrow, total fund raising over Rs 1,600 crore
Preeti was detained in connection with the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in 2018 against the former promoters of Unitech, Sanjay and Amit Chandra. In March 2021, she was apprehended at the airport while attempting to escape the country.
