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Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal gets interim bail for 2 months on medical grounds
Money laundering case: The Bombay high court granted interim bail for 2 months to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal on medical grounds.
The Bombay high court on Monday granted interim bail to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal for two months on medical grounds. Goyal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
A single bench of Justice N J Jamadar ordered Goyal to pay a surety of ₹1 lakh and not leave Mumbai without prior permission from the trial court.
"The applicant (Goyal) shall be released on interim bail for a period of two months. He shall abide by all conditions imposed," the bench said.
Goyal has also been directed to surrender his passport.
Naresh Goyal, 75, had sought interim bail citing medical and humanitarian reasons, as both he and his wife, Anita Goyal, are battling cancer.
Read: ‘No hope, better if I die in…’: Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal breaks down in court
Goyal was arrested by the ED in September 2023 on allegations that he had laundered money and siphoned off loans to the tune of ₹538.62 crore given to Jet Airways by the Canara Bank.
His wife was arrested in November 2023 when the ED submitted its chargesheet in the case.
She was granted bail by the special court the same day considering her age and medical condition.
A special court had refused bail to Naresh Goyal in February but allowed him to be admitted to a private hospital for medical treatment. Goyal then approached the Bombay high court, seeking bail based on the merits of the case as well as interim bail on medical grounds.
During the hearing, Goyal’s counsel Harish Salve urged the court to consider the plea on humanitarian grounds, citing not only Goyal’s physical difficulties but also the mental strain caused by his wife’s similar health condition. Salve expressed Goyal’s desire to be with his wife during her final days.
The Enforcement Directorate opposed the plea due to the lack of a recent medical report and said the agency did not have any problem if Goyal's hospitalisation was extended. ED's counsel Hiten Venegaonkar had submitted that the court may extend Goyal's hospitalisation for a period of four weeks and then call for a fresh medical report to assess his situation.
