SC adjourns bail plea of Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra's wife in money laundering case

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned a plea relating to grant of bail to Preeti Chandra, wife of Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra, in connection with a money laundering case.

A bench comprising of CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was considering the plea filed by ED against an order of the Delhi High Court granting her bail.

“She has been inside since October 2021. What do you (ED) need her for ? On merits, she has got bail from the High Court,” argued senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chandra. 

“It’s a case where no bail could be granted. It is a huge fraud running in crores of rupees, ten thousand crores,” told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for the central probe agency. 

The matter was listed at the end of the board and was adjourned by the court as a detailed hearing could not be undertaken due to paucity of time.

Earlier on June 16, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court had stayed the direction of the Delhi High Court granting bail to Preeti Chandra.

The bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh of the High Court, however, had said that the order will not take effect till June 16, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought time to challenge the order. 

The money laundering investigation was initiated by the ED in 2021 on the basis of various FIRs filed by the Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Unitech Group and its promoters on home buyers' complaints. 

The probe agency had arrested founder of Unitech Group Ramesh Chandra, Preeti Chandra and Rajesh Malik of Carnousite Group in 2021. 

It has been alleged that the Unitech Ltd, where the accused Ramesh Chandra is the Chairman, the co-accused Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra are the Directors, collected funds from homebuyers, for housing projects. 

However, according to the ED, the fund was not used for the purpose for which it was collected. The accused persons diverted this amount into several other accounts, the agency alleged, adding that the accused persons transferred over Rs 2,000 crore to Cyprus and the Cayman Islands. 

According to the ED, accused Preeti Chandra received proceeds of crime Rs 107.40 crore in her company Prakausli Investments Pvt Ltd.