The Supreme Court on Saturday granted interim bail to former director of Amrapali Group, Anil Sharma for two weeks on medical grounds, directing him to surrender after the expiry of the same.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) U.U. Lalit further directed Sharma to approach the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court for regular bail in the case.
Advocate M.L. Lahoti, appearing for Amrapali Wires, opposed the interim bail.
The Apex Court replied that it has not given bail to the accused, but has only extended the interim protection for two weeks.
In August this year, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Sharma for eight weeks on medical grounds, which was today extended for two more weeks.
The top court of the country also extended interim bail of another former director of Amrapali Group, Shiva Priya, in the same case. He was directed to surrender after Diwali.
Appearing for Sharma, Advocate Ranjit Kumar contended that on the basis of cases registered against the accused, he was at present in custody in 24 cases. The trial was going on in the PMLA case and the statements of 2-3 witnesses have also been recorded in it.
The CJI said that out of 30 cases registered against the accused, bail has been given only in six cases. The bench noted that Sharma was in jail in the remaining 24 cases.
The CJI asked Kumar, “In how many cases out of 24, are you seeking bail? In how many cases out of these, was bail rejected?”
Kumar replied that Sharma was seeking bail in all 24 cases.
However, the Apex Court rejected bail to company’s CFO Chandra Prakash, directing him to approach an appropriate forum for relief.
Amrapali home buyers had moved the top court in 2017 seeking various reliefs including compensation and refund of their money for delayed possession of flats.
Subsequently, several issues cropped up, including investigation by various agencies into the alleged diversion of home buyers’ money.
On October 19, the Supreme Court had said that a Bench headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit will hold a special sitting on October 22 to hear the pending issues involving the Amrapali group of companies, including the bail pleas of its former directors Anil Sharma and Shiva Priya.
The Bench of CJI Lalit and Justice Bela M. Trivedi said it will hold the court on Saturday, a non-working day, to adjudicate pending issues related to finances from the banks, along with the Noida and Greater Noida authorities’ contention on sale of floor area ratio to generate funds.
The CJI said that his tenure was coming to an end and he would not have much time to adjudicate all the pending issues of the Amrapali Group.
He said he would hear only those issues, which would give impetus to the construction of stalled projects, so that the hassled home buyers could get their flats.