Indore: Zoom boss challenges ED action in apex court
One of the country’s top bank defaulters, Zoom Developers promoter and chief executive Vijay Choudhary has challenged the Enforcement Directorate’s case against him under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before the Supreme Court.
One of the country’s top bank defaulters, Zoom Developers promoter and chief executive Vijay Choudhary has challenged the Enforcement Directorate’s case against him under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before the Supreme Court.
The hearing is scheduled on July 27.
Sources in the ED said Choudhary had moved the high court with a petition seeking the case and proceedings initiated against him under PMLA be quashed and to restrain the central agency from interrogating him under custody. Choudhary gave various grounds, including one which argued that an FIR should be lodged first before investigation, to buttress his point.
The high court’s order on October 20 last year did not quash the case under PMLA but had asked the ED to first file an FIR as given under CrPC provisions and then proceed further.
The ED filed an appeal against this order on December 23, 2015. Meanwhile, Choudhary moved the apex court with his petition.
But ED sources are confident of victory at the apex court. “We believe that the petitioner’s ground is not tenable because it is well known that under PMLA that there is no need for FIR before starting investigation. It is being done to create hurdles in the case,” a source said.
The case against Zoom Developers hit the headlines when on July last year, the ED issued an attachment order for 1,280 acre of the company’s land in California.
The ED’s case against Zoom Developers hinges on Choudhary’s arrest and interrogation, the sources said. Even though several notices and an Interpol’s lookout notice were issued against Choudhary, he has still evaded arrest. The company’s secretary Satish Kabra is in jail since May 21 last year.
Zoom Developers is among the top 10 bank defaulters in the country whose business transactions are also being investigated by the CBI. The company has been accused of defrauding banks to the tune of Rs 2,900 crore.
ED versus Zoom Developers
Zoom Developers promoter Vijay Choudhary moved the high court with a petition seeking the case and proceedings initiated against him under PMLA be quashed and to restrain the central agency from interrogating him under custody
The high court’s order on October 20 last year did not quash the case under PMLA but had asked the ED to first file an FIR as given under CrPC provisions and then proceed further
The ED filed an appeal against this order on December 23, 2015
In his argument, Chouhan said an FIR should be lodged first before investigation