The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea by realtor Sanjay Chhabria against an order of the Bombay High Court which denied to grant him default bail in the Yes Bank money laundering case.
A bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal stated that the offence was serious and that the high court considered everything. The counsel appearing for Sanjay Chhabria then withdrew the plea and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn.
Earlier on October 9, a single bench of Justice M S Karnik had dismissed Sanjay Chhabria’s petition seeking default bail on the grounds that though the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted its chargesheet against him within the mandatory 60-day period, it had also sought permission from the special court to carry on further probe in the case.
The Enforcement Directorate contended that while the investigation against Sanjay Chhabria was complete, the probe regarding the case was still underway. The Bombay High Court had agreed with the nodal agency and stated that the offence of money laundering involves multiple interconnected transactions and the same demands cumbersome investigation. It added that the ED in the present case was investigating an economic offence which demands in-depth and detailed investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate alleged that Sanjay Chhabria had played an important role in diverting funds procured illegally by Yes Bank’s founder Rana Kapoor and Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoter Kapil Wadhwan. Meanwhile, Chhabria’s lawyer had said since the investigation in the case was incomplete even after 60 days since his arrest in the case, the accused stands to get relief of default bail.
Realtor Sanjay Chhabria was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 7, 2022 in connection with the Yes Bank-DHFL money laundering case. The ED submitted its prosecution complaint on August 4, 2022.