HC dismisses Deepak Talwar’s bail plea

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed the bail plea of lobbyist Deepak Talwar, arrested by the ED in a money laundering case, saying the "magnitude of conspiracy angle" in it is huge and enormous amount of money is yet to be trailed.

Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar denied relief to Talwar on the ED'S contention that he could flee from justice based on his past conduct and record of investigation, besides the fact that his son Aditya -- a coaccused in the case -- is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda.

Talwar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after his deportation from Dubai in January.

"The gravity of the offence committed by the petitioner (Talwar) is quite evident from the material placed on record. In the instant case there are allegations against the petitioner of money laundering to the extent of Rs 272.01 crore out of which till date only an amount of Rs 127.69 crore could be unearth and further investigation is underway to trace the flow of rest of the fund amounting to Rs 144.32 crore received in the accounts of Guilt Asset Management Limited," the judge said.

The high court observed that the economic offences like this one constitute a class part and they are not like other criminal cases and need to be visited with a different approach. "Therefore taking note of huge magnitude of conspiracy angle qua petitioner, it would be premature to jump to the conclusion that investigation in this case in respect of the petitioner is complete, rather huge amount of money is still to be trailed," it said.

It added that Talwar was not entitled to the grant of bail and dismissed his petition challenging a trial court's order denying him the relief in the case.

The court noted that during the arguments earlier, it has been urged by Talwar's counsel that as per the investigating agency, the investigation qua him is complete.

However, this submission has no force as the probe in respect of Talwar's other associates, public servants and properties involved in the money laundering is still in progress, the court said. "In my opinion, the tentacles of the crime are so widespread and it is not that the investigation can be segregated in respect of one or the other accused, the entire crime committed is indeed interlinked," the judge said.

The court added that the diary of proceedings handed over by the ED showed that despite being in judicial custody, how Talwar is still "ruling the roost and is in constant touch with co-accused and interfering with the investigation".

"So when this is the clout of the petitioner that despite being in judicial custody he is managing things then one can very well imagine what he can do once out on bail," it held.