WB coal mining 'scam' HC grants bail to accused in money laundering case over delayed trial

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a money laundering accused arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a coal mining scam case in West Bengal, noting he has been in jail for more than two years but the trial has not even commenced.
    The court granted Gurupada Maji the relief keeping in view his incarceration of nearly 28 months and no possibility of the trial concluding in the near future.
    However, Justice Jyoti Singh did not make any comment on the merits of the case.
    "In my view, the issues flagged by the respective parties are complex issues which would require further evidence and are best left to the trial court," the judge said.     "Since this court is inclined to grant bail on the touchstone of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, due to long incarceration of the applicant (Maji) and the possibility of the trial not concluding in the near future, …, the court refrains from expressing opinion on the merits of the case at this stage," Justice Singh said.
    The HC examined Maji's bail plea in light of the Supreme Court's recent observations in AAP leader Manish Sisodia's case that right to bail in case of delayed trial and long incarceration would be read into Section 439 CrPC and Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
    The HC noted that Maji has been in judicial custody since June 2, 2022 and the trial has not even commenced.
    "Applicant contends and in my view, rightly so, that many witnesses have been named and the case involves thousands of pages of documents which have to be examined on behalf of the prosecution and there is no possibility of the trial concluding in the near future more so, when the trial has not even commenced," the judge said in the August 30 verdict.
    Referring to several apex court judgments, the HC said that the two stringent bail conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA do not create in this case an absolute restraint or an insurmountable barrier before the court in granting relief on grounds of long incarceration and delay in completion of trial.
    Under Section 45 of the PMLA for granting bail, the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence, and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
    "Maintaining a delicate balance between the twin conditions under Section 45 of PMLA and the need to combat economic offences and seeing with the prism of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, in my view, the applicant has made out a case for grant of bail keeping in view the incarceration of nearly 28 months and there being no possibility of the trial concluding in the near future," Justice Singh said.
    The court granted bail to Maji on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. It directed him not to leave the country without the trial court's prior permission and to surrender his passport.
     "He shall not indulge in any criminal activity directly or indirectly and will make no attempt to contact the witnesses associated with the case," the high court said and asked the accused to give his address and mobile details to the investigating officer.
    "It is also a matter of record that the investigation in the present matter qua the applicant is complete. The case of the ED is primarily based on documentary evidence and the relevant records/documents have been seized and are in custody of investigating agencies and thus cannot be tampered. ED has not argued that there is any possibility of intimidating the witnesses," it said.
     Maji was arrested by the central probe agency on May 27, 2022.
    The ED has claimed that Maji was a partner of prime accused Anup Majee and "received more than Rs 66 crore from the proceeds of crime generated through illegal coal mining business from Anup Majee alias Lala and his associates".
    In September 2022, a trial court refused to grant bail to him in the money laundering case, saying it did not find a reasonable ground for believing that the accused was not guilty of the alleged offences.
    The ED case of money laundering stems from a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore-rupee coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.
    A charge sheet was filed by the ED in the case in May 2021.
    The agency has said that the total proceeds of crime in the case stand at Rs 1,352 crore. It has attached assets worth Rs 180 crore.
    Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been questioned in this case by the ED. His wife Rujira was also summoned.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)