The Delhi High Court recently rejected the statutory bail plea filed by Supertech Chairman Ram Kishor Arora in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) [Mr Ram Kishor Arora v Directorate of Enforcement & Anr].Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri rejected Arora’s bail plea on March 5.“I find no merit in the petition and the same is accordingly dismissed. Pending application is disposed of as infructuous,” the Court ordered.Supertech and its group companies have been accused of cheating more than 800 homebuyers of ₹228 crores. On the homebuyers’ complaints, 26 first information reports (FIRs) were registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.The ED arrested Arora in June 2023. The complaint was filed against him on August 24, 2023 and the court took cognisance of the same on September 26, 2023.It was Arora’s case that on the date of the filing of the complaint, the investigation was incomplete and the complaint was not accompanied by the FSL report.The Court was also told that even after filing of the complaint, the probe agency issued summons to one Anil Kumar Jain, the director of Supertech, which implies that investigations are still pending including against Arora.After considering the arguments, Justice Ohri noted that the ED had said that mere issuance of summons to other directors would not imply that the investigation against Arora is incomplete and the right to further investigate is well recognised by the law.“In the present case, the respondent has already submitted the requisite documents for obtaining expert opinion from FSL. Preparation of the FSL report is not in the control of the investigating agency, though it can take steps for expediting the process. As already noted above, it is the categorical stand of the respondent that investigation against the present petitioner is complete. Mere issuance of summons to another person or seeking leave of the Court to file additional evidence, without there being any other sufficient material to challenge, the petitioner cannot be held to be entitled to a default bail,” the Court observed.It, therefore, rejected the statutory bail plea.Advocates RK Handoo, Yoginder Handoo, TA Mir, Dipti Singh, M Singh, Akshay and Haresh Gaur appeared for Ram Kishor Arora.
TAGS: Supertech Chairman Ram Kishor Arora Delhi High Court bail plea money laundering case
