Mumbai, Dec 17 (PTI) A special court here has denied bail to Purushottam Chavan, husband of an IPS officer, in an alleged Rs 263 crore Income Tax refund fraud case, saying there is prima facie evidence to show his involvement in "layering proceeds of the crime".
Chavan was arrested in May this year and is currently in judicial custody.
Special judge, A C Daga, hearing cases pertaining to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) denied the bail on Monday.
Chavan, in connivance with co-accused in the case, laundered money to the tune of Rs 11 crore in India and abroad, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged in its supplementary chargesheet.
Chavan's bail plea claimed that his arrest was "suspicious and he has not committed any offence".
In the plea, he said that his name is not in the original FIR or the initial chargesheet.
The evidence against him is circumstantial and is based on the statement of the co-accused, he said, adding that no reasonable ground is made out to link him with the crime, the plea said.
Trial has not yet commenced and prolonged pre-trial detention is violative of the right given under the Constitution of India, he said.
However, the court, in its order, noted that there is nothing on record to show that "there is delay in trial on the part of the complainant".
"The bail application of the accused will be decided today (Monday), then naturally the matter will proceed for framing of charge," the court said.
"At this juncture, it cannot be said that Article 21 of the Constitution of India for speedy trial is violated and there is prolonged incarceration," it observed.
Further, the court noted that "there is prima facie evidence on record showing involvement of the accused in layering proceeds of the crime and has received proceeds of the crime from the co-accused".
On the medical condition cited by the accused, the court said there is nothing on record which goes to show that the accused is suffering from a life-threatening disease.
No report from the CMO (chief medical officer) of the Mumbai Central Prison to show that he is not in a position to treat the accused properly and he requires hospitalisation, the court said.
"This itself goes to show that the illness is not of such nature as has been canvassed by the applicant/accused," it added.
The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent generation and issuance of TDS (tax deducted at source) refunds from the Income Tax Department to the tune of Rs 263.95 crore.
Other arrested accused in the case are former Income Tax officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Patil, Rajesh Shetty, and Rajesh Batreja.