Proclamation notice against Topsgrup promoter Rahul Nanda, wife

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Friday ordered the issuance of a proclamation against Topsgrup group promoter Rahul Nanda and his wife Rasshi

Mumbai A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Friday ordered the issuance of a proclamation against Topsgrup group promoter Rahul Nanda and his wife Rasshi.

Special public prosecutor Kavita Patil had informed the court that the Oshiwara police had filed a report about service of the non-bailable warrants issued against the absconding spouses (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Acting on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), special PMLA judge M G Deshpande ordered issuance of the proclamation under section 82 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and directed the agency to publish the proclamation, calling upon the couple to appear before the court in 30 days of its publication.

Special public prosecutor Kavita Patil had informed the court that the Oshiwara police had filed a report about service of the non-bailable warrants issued against the absconding spouses. Patil pointed out that the report indicated that the Oshiwara police went to execute the warrants at Nanda Villa, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri, but found out that the premises were already sealed by the ED.

The special court also took note of the fact that the ED too tried to execute the NBWs against both of them, but they are not found on their known address.

“Another aspect that requires consideration is neither the accused nor their counsels have turned up in the court. Therefore, I am of the opinion that, there is a reason to believe that both accused against whom warrants have been issued by this Court have absconded or have been concealing themselves so that such warrants cannot be executed,” said the special judge.

“Therefore, this is a fit case to direct publication of a written proclamation requiring them to appear in this Court within 30 days from the publication of such proclamation,” said the court.

According to ED, Topsgrup had in 2014 obtained a contract for providing security guards at the projects of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), purportedly in collusion with Shiv Sena leader and MLA Pratap Sarnaik through illegal means by a “well-thought out strategy.”

The agency claimed that the aim of these illegal manoeuvres was to get inadmissible benefit by inflating the number of contracted security guards deployed at the cost of MMRDA and illegal cash gratification to Sarnaik for facilitating this scam.

Against this “active role and criminal conspiracy”, Sarnaik used to get 50% profit earned out of the said contract and sometimes, the money used to be transferred to the account of a third person, said ED. Amit Chandole accepted the receipt of cash from Topsgrup for the MMRDA projects, ED claimed, adding that, thus, part of the amount received by TOPSGRUP from MMRDA appeared to be proceeds of crime.

The Sena MLA has termed the ED’s actions as an outcome of vendetta politics.