Money laundering case: Delhi HC reserves order on bail plea of Ambience Group Promoter

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved the order on bail of the businessman Raj Singh Gehlot, the owner of Ambience Hotel who was arrested in a money laundering case related to bank loan alleged fraud case.

The case relates to certain loans granted by a consortium of banks for the construction of the Ambience Hotel at Shahdara, Delhi.

The bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri after hearing intensive arguments on the point of validity of twin conditions under section 45, PMLA vis a vis right of an accused enshrined under Articles 14, 19 and 21 and other legal issues reserved the bail application filed on behalf of Gehlot for passing Orders.

The case was argued at length by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Senior Advocate Mukul Gupta, who appeared for Gehlot.

Arguments were addressed on merits as well as other legal issues involving the due process of law, the procedure established by law and other anomalies under the PMLA.

Senior Advocate Singhvi was briefed by Advocate Sandeep Kapur of Karanjawala and Co and his team.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, Advocate Zoheb Hussain and Advocate Amit Mahajan appeared on behalf of the Directorate of Enforcement.

Earlier, the trial court had dismissed Gehlot's bail petition.

The ED had arrested Gehlot last year in an alleged bank loan fraud case worth more than Rs 800 crore. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) for committing bank fraud against the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Consortium.

According to the financial probe agency, it had initiated an investigation under PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered by State ACB, Jammu against Aman Hospitality Pvt Ltd (AHPL) and its Directors for money laundering in the construction and development of the 5-star 'Leela Ambience Convention Hotel' situated near the Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi.

ED further stated that investigation under PMLA revealed that a huge part of a loan amount of more than Rs 800 crore, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks for the hotel project, was siphoned off by AHPL and Raj Singh Gehlot and his associates through a web of companies controlled by them.

( With inputs from ANI )

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