New Delhi, Jan 19 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on the bail application of Pinki Irani, who is allegedly an aide of multimillionaire conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, in connection with a Rs 200 crore money laundering case.
Earlier this month, a trial court had denied granting bail to the accused.
Issuing notice to the ED, Justice Mukta Gupta listed the matter for further hearing on February 14.
Irani, a resident of Mumbai, was arrested in December last year by the ED and also confronted with Sukesh Chandrasekhar inside the Tihar Jail. She is the ninth person held in the case. Those who were earlier arrested are Pradeep Ramdanee, B. Mohan Raj, Deepak Ramnani, Arun Muthu, Kamlesh Kothari, Avatar Singh Kochhar, Sukesh Chandrashekhar, and his wife Leena Maria Paul.
Advocate Yoginder Handoo, appearing for Pinki Irani argued that since November 25, his client is under the 24x7 watch of the Enforcement officials, in Claridges Hotel and Park Hotel and was officially arrested on December 9, 2021. The allegations of violation of provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the applicant are misconceived on facts and untenable in law, which the trial court has failed to appreciate and does not make out any case on facts and law against the applicant under the provisions of PMLA, he submitted.
The plea also contended that the grounds of arrest and the accusations against her were never communicated to the applicant and otherwise could not be comprehended without a copy of the complaint already filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
The allegations against the applicant are on the face of it vague and rollover even though the applicant continues to be in custody, it said.
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi have recorded their statement as a witness in the case. Pinky Irani was the one who introduced Sukesh to Jacqueline. According to the first charge sheet filed by ED, it was Pinky who used to select luxury gifts for Jacqueline, and once the payment was made by Sukesh, she used to collect it from the gift centre to hand it over to Jacqueline.
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