SC issues notice to ED on interim bail plea of Ambience Group promoter Raj Singh Gehlot
Sep 30, 2022
New Delhi [India], September 30 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the interim bail plea of Ambience Group promoter Raj Singh Gehlot on medical grounds.
A bench headed by BR Gavai listed the matter for further hearing on October 10.
The court also clarified that interim protection granted to the Gehlot will continue till the next date of hearing.
"It is made clear that the pendency of the present special leave petition or impugned order of the High Court would not come in the way of considering the application of the petitioner for grant of regular bail," the court said.
"We further clarify that we have not considered the merits of the matter and both the petitioner as well as the respondent would be at liberty to raise all grounds available in law," the court said.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Gehlot in the matter.
Gehlot has challenged the Delhi High Court order dated September 28, which denied to extend of his interim bail extension.
Delhi High Court order has come on Directorate of Enforcement plea seeking to set aside the order dated 30.08.2022 granting an extension of interim bail to the Gehlot for a period of six weeks with effect from 19.08.2022 passed by an Additional Sessions Judge of Patiala House Court, New Delhi.
Gehlot was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in July last year.
The Enforcement Directorate had earlier raided Gehlot, his company Aman Hospitality Private Limited (AHPL), some other firms of the Ambience group, directors in the company Dayanand Singh, Mohan Singh Gehlot, and their associates.
The ED case on Gehlot, a promoter of the Ambience Mall in Gurugram, is based on a 2019 FIR of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Jammu against AHPL and its directors for alleged money laundering in the construction and development of the five-star Leela Ambience Convention Hotel located near Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi.
The ED claimed its probe found that a huge part of the loan amount of more than Rs 800 crore, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks for the hotel project, was siphoned off by AHPL, Raj Singh Gehlot, and his associates through a web of companies owned and controlled by them.
