New Delhi [India], October 4 : The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Friday granted bail to Madhav Acharya, a senior official of the Avantha Group, in connection with a money laundering case. This case stems from a June 2021 FIR filed by the CBI against Gautam Thapar, his company CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd., and other associates.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa represented Madhav Acharya before Special Judge Sanjeev Agarwal at Rouse Avenue, where Acharya was granted regular bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The judge, while passing the order, said the evidence collected against the accused by the investigating agency in the present case, even on broad probabilities, is not sufficient to attract the rigours of Section 45 of PMLA, as the case against the accused does not appear to be prima facie genuine going by the said evidence/material collected during the investigations, as discussed above.
Further keeping the accused under incarceration any further in view of the afore discussion would be violative of his right to speedy trial and would deprive him of his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, said the court.
The case involves allegations of money laundering linked to the Avantha Group and Gautam Thapar, amounting to approximately Rs. 1,929.88 crores and Rs. 6.33 crores.
This is among few bail applications in recent times, decided post satisfying the twin conditions contemplated under sections 45 PMLA.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently provisionally attached immovable properties valued at approximately Rs 678.48 crore belonging to various entities of the Avantha Group, controlled by businessman Gautam Thapar. These properties, located in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand, were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED stated that on August 19, 2019, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited disclosed findings under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which could significantly impact the company's financial position.