Orissa chit fund scam: Supreme Court issues notice in bail plea of accused Mohammad Arif

The Supreme Court in the case Mohammad Arif v Enforcement Directorate observed and issued a notice, a petition was filled foe seeking bail by the accused, Mohammad Arif in the Fine Indisales chit fund scam case. The bench comprising of Justice JK Maheshwari and the Justice Hima Kohli observed and tagged the matter with another bail plea filed by disabled actor Mohd Naseer who’s also an accused in the same case. In the petition it was stated that the accused, Mohammad Arif has been charged for allegedly cheating and siphoning of monies in the name of chit fund schemes. In the plea, Arif the present petitioner has been charged with offences under the relevant provision of the Prevention Of Money Laundering Act, 2012 and the Chit Funds Act, 1982. The bench was considering a Special Leave Petition filled by Arif challenging the final order Orissa High Court’s order dismissing his bail plea. It was contended by the petitioner that he was released on interim bail for a month on account of his wife’s death on 10.01.2022 and the petitioner had duly complied with all the terms and conditions and the petitioner as was directed by the Hon’ble High Court, had surrendered within a month. The petitioner contended that he was arrested without any notice under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012 and after two and half years of filing the charge-sheet which is totally against law laid down by the Supreme Court. The petitioner added that there can be hardly a case for tampering of evidence or, influencing witnesses in the trial, when two chargesheets have already been filed. Senior Advocate Malvika Trivedi, Advocates Swarnendu Chatterjee, Himanshu Nailwal and Yashwardhan Singh, represented the petitioner