E-Paper
SC grants 5-hour bail to ex-Unitech promoter’s wife, imposes tough conditions
During Friday’s proceedings, the Supreme Court expressed surprise that former Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra’s wife Preeti holds a passport of Dominican Republic.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted a limited five-hour bail to Preeti Chandra, wife of former Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra to attend the last rite ceremonies of her grandmother in Delhi under strict conditions that included a police escort, no access to any documents, gadgets or mobile phone, and surrender of passport
The conditions were imposed after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the court that letting her out of jail even for a short period of time could jeopardise the investigation into the money laundering charges against the former Unitech promoters.
However, acting on humanitarian considerations, a bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah permitted Preeti Chandra to attend the last rites of her maternal grandmother who expired on March 14. One of the functions was scheduled on Saturday while another was to take place on April 5. The court asked to choose one on the condition that she cannot leave Delhi and the location has to be intimated to the police or ED authorities in advance.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Madhavi Divan appearing for ED said, “We have burnt our fingers in the past and so we are adopting double caution. There have been several bad experiences where the accused have gone by road to neighbouring countries and flown out from there.”
ED, in an affidavit, referred to one such case involving Nitin Sandesara, an accused in the ₹5,500 crore Sterling Biotech scam who escaped in violation of the Delhi high court directing him not to leave the country.
As regards Preeti, ED in its affidavit said, “Permitting the applicant to leave the jail premises even for a short period of time may jeopardise the investigation. It is a matter of record that as and when the accused members of the Chandra family are permitted to leave the jail premises for any reason, they engage in illegal activities such as dissipation of assets involved in money laundering, influencing witnesses, signing documents by which transaction are made, etc.”
The bench said, “We are inclined to permit the applicant to travel to a designated place within Delhi on one day between 10 am and 3 pm in connection with the last rites to be conducted by family.”
The bench directed the applicant to be taken and returned to jail under police escort headed by an officer of the rank of Inspector. “During the period of departure and return, the applicant will not be permitted to use any electronic device, cell phones, or access any document or paper,” the order said.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave appearing for Preeti informed the court that she does not intend to go to Haridwar for immersion of ashes. The court asked her to deposit all her passports prior to her visit and directed that the applicant shall bear all expenses of the police escort.
ASG Divan told the court that the applicant was not simply the wife of one of the promoters but an active participant in concealing and laundering proceeds of crime to the tune of around ₹410 crore through shell companies under the name of TriKar Group having entities in tax haven countries of British Virgin Island, Singapore, Mauritius, and UAE.
Divan further pointed out the applicant’s role in undermining the jail authorities at Tihar Jail who helped exchange vital information for dissipating crime proceeds between her and her jailed husband. After this came to light, the court shifted the Chandra brothers to separate jails in Mumbai.
Preeti was arrested in connection with the money laundering case registered by ED in 2018 against the ex- Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra. She was arrested from the airport in March last year while trying to escape. On being told by ED that Preeti holds a passport of the Dominican Republic, it surprised the bench too. The judges said, “Why would you acquire citizenship of Dominican Republic when your children are US citizens and you operate your business from UAE.”
Dave told the court that citizenship of the Dominican Republic was acquired in 2016. Since then, she has travelled 30 times out of the country. “I did not flee from the jurisdiction of this country even once when I was interrogated between March and October last year. I am here appealing for a humanitarian cause,” he added.
ED in its affidavit said, “India has not entered into an extradition treaty with the Dominican Republic and the country is a haven for other Indian fugitives accused of economic offences, such as Mehul Choksi…. There is a strong possibility that the applicant may abscond to a foreign jurisdiction – both her son and daughter are living abroad and a substantial amount of the proceeds of crime are still lying outside India in Benami concerns such as TriKar group.”
