New Delhi: Businessman Rajesh Katyal, who was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly laundering more than Rs 200 crore in proceeds of crime (POC) via his firms, has been granted regular bail by a Delhi court. The Delhi High Court had granted Katyal temporary bail.

In a November 14, 2024, judgment, Special Judge Gaurav Gupta granted businessman Rajesh Katyal regular bail, stating that the accused has surmounted the dual obstacles of Section 45 PMLA.

The court has good cause to conclude that the accused is not guilty of the claimed offense as there is uncertainty about the existence of the predicate planned offense itself.

Additionally, it is shown that the accused has participated in the inquiry at least four times before. There is no evidence that the accused has ever abused the freedom that was bestowed upon him. Nor had he attempted to escape justice.

According to the Court, the accused does not seem likely to conduct any crimes while out on bail.

The court observed that eight FIRs involving EOW, Delhi Police, and Haryana served as the basis for the ED’s case.

Rajesh Katyal is accused of participating in the launderage of Rs 241 crore via foreign investments and shell companies. Businessman Rajesh Katyal, his brother Amit Katyal, and their friends have been charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for cheating unsuspecting plot purchasers of more than Rs 200 crore in their hard-earned money.

Plot purchasers’ money from the Brahma City and Krrish World developments in Gurugram is allegedly involved in the fraud. The money was transferred via many shell companies and relocated overseas to hide its illegal origin.

The allegations allege that Rajesh Katyal, a director and important decision-maker in a number of Katyal Group firms, conspired with his brother Amit Katyal and others to shift criminal gains.

In particular, it is claimed that property purchasers paid Rs 241.18 crore to Mahadev Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a business that Rajesh Katyal directed. Krrish Transworks (Colombo) Pvt. Ltd. reportedly deposited Rs 205 crore of this sum via the RBI’s Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) channel in a luxury hotel and real estate project in Sri Lanka.

Additionally, it is alleged that Rajesh Katyal received Rs 65 crore from his brother Amit Katyal via Iceberg Trading Pvt. Ltd. Of this amount, Rs 50 crore was purportedly disguised as a gift by Rajesh Katyal. According to the ED, Rajesh Katyal assisted in the laundering of illegal cash and was a direct beneficiary and receiver of the profits of crime.

The ED has not entered the court with clean hands and has purposefully withheld the information from the court while representing accused businessman Senior Advocates Vikas Pahwa and Geeta Luthra.

Senior Advocates contended that while the current ECIR was established in 2023, the ED failed to disclose this information in the Sec. 167 CrPC remand application, and that five of the eight FIRs on which the ECIR was based had already been dismissed or closed years before the ECIR was formed.

Furthermore, it was contended that the ED had alleged that Rs 241.18 crore had been received in Mahadev Infratech Pvt. Ltd.’s account as proceeds of crime, even though the majority of the money had already been returned to other banks long before the ECIR was registered.

Additionally, it was argued that ED was fully aware that, after reviewing the balance sheets, a net payment of only about Rs 30 lakhs was received, rather than the Rs 241.18 crores that ED had claimed because the full amount had already been returned many years prior to the ECIR’s registration. Nevertheless, ED purposefully concealed this information.