A Delhi court has rejected the bail plea of banned Popular Front of India (PFI) Delhi unit chief Parvez Ahmed, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in money laundering under the guise of cash donations.
Ahmed argued in his petition that his continued imprisonment was unjustified and there was no possibility of the trial concluding quickly.
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jeet, taking into account the evidence before him, said, “The accused could not cross the limit prescribed in Section 45 of the PMLA. Therefore, the present bail application is disposed of as rejected.”
The twin conditions under Section 45 state that when an accused in a money laundering case applies for bail, the court must first give an opportunity of being heard to the government pleader and only after he is satisfied that the accused is not guilty And that’s not likely. Bail may be granted if he commits a similar offense upon release.
Special public prosecutor NK Matta and lawyer Mohammed Faizan appeared for the ED.
The government counsel, while opposing the bail plea, had underlined that the accused was “evasive” besides making “deliberate attempts to mislead the investigation and conceal his role in the offense of money laundering”. Rejecting Ahmed’s plea for bail on the grounds that he was not aware of dealing with the proceeds of crime, the court said, “Whether the applicant (Ahmed) knew or did not know that he was dealing with the proceeds of crime. It also rejected the accused’s contention that he did not monitor the collection of donations and was not directly involved in dealing with the accounts. Was, saying that being the state president of the Delhi unit, his “fair denial” would not acquit him of the role he played in the PFI. ,
“The material on record shows that there has been flow of funds through various sources, some of which have been described as dubious. “There are allegations of raising funds from abroad without accounting,” the court said.
It said, “When the statements of various accused are compared with each other, they create contradictions with regard to the entire process of source of money and ultimately indicate that there are layers of money.”
The court has reserved its order on the bail of other arrested PFI officials including General Secretary Mohammad Ilyas and Office Secretary Abdul Muqit. The agency had arrested all three accused on September 22, 2022.
The central probe agency had alleged that the three accused, along with other members of PFI, collected money through donations, hawala, banking channels etc. and used the money for illegal activities and scheduled crimes.
According to the ED remand paper, in the last few years, funds were also being transferred from abroad through secret or illegal channels as part of a conspiracy hatched by PFI officials.
