A local court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of Ajay Sehgal, secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society, in a money-laundering case linked to the Suntec City project in New Chandigarh.
Rejecting the plea, additional sessions judge Hardip Singh held that Sehgal failed to satisfy the mandatory conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court also noted serious allegations that Sehgal generated and possessed proceeds of crime and routed or siphoned the money to shield it.
He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 22, 2026 after raids at multiple locations in Mohali, Chandigarh and other parts of Punjab. During the searches, ED officials had recovered ₹21 lakh allegedly thrown from the ninth floor of Western Towers in Kharar by persons linked to the accused, besides incriminating documents, digital devices and unaccounted cash to the tune of ₹31 lakh from various locations.
The ED had registered the case on September 17, 2024, on the basis of a 2022 FIR registered at the Mullanpur police station for alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy in connection with the Suntec City project.
{{/usCountry}}The ED had registered the case on September 17, 2024, on the basis of a 2022 FIR registered at the Mullanpur police station for alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy in connection with the Suntec City project.
{{/usCountry}}Forged signatures, thumb impressions used for CLU
The ED alleged that Sehgal, while serving as the secretary of the society, prepared fake consent letters carrying forged signatures and thumb impressions of 15 landowners to obtain change of land use (CLU) permission for the project. According to the agency, the society used these documents to obtain approval for developing 108.58 acres of agricultural land into residential and commercial plots.
RERA registration also on basis of forged papers
The agency further alleged that the project obtained Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) registration on the basis of the allegedly forged documents and that plots and units were sold despite the society not having acquired the entire project land. It also alleged violations concerning land reserved for economically weaker sections.
According to the ED’s investigation cited in the order, the alleged proceeds of crime amounted to ₹348 crore, comprising sale proceeds and unsold inventory of the society and ABS Townships Pvt Ltd. The agency alleged that the money was diverted to sister concerns of ABS Townships, whose beneficial owners included Sehgal, Sanjay Sehgal and Anil Sehgal.
Sehgal’s counsel disputed the allegations, arguing that investigators had not identified any specific transaction showing that money earned through the society’s plot sales constituted proceeds of crime. The defence also argued that Sehgal had already secured bail in the predicate FIR and that the police had not filed a chargesheet in that case.