Delhi court grants bail to OP Chautala in money laundering case

NEWDELHI:A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to former Haryana chief minister OP Chautala in an over ₹6 crore money laundering case, noting that the by Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not arrest him during investigation.

Special judge Kamini Lau granted the relief on an application moved by Chautala after he appeared before the court, which had summoned him as accused on a chargesheet filed by the ED. The court directed him to furnish a personal bond of ₹5 lakh and two sureties of like amount.

However, the court put various conditions on the accused, including surrendering his passport before it.

In his application, Chautala said he was not required for custodial interrogation and that the agency itself did not chose to arrest him.

The bail application was opposed by ED’S special public prosecutor N K Matta who said that further examination of the accused was required for identifying the money trail and other suspected beneficiaries in the case.

Chautala is currently serving a 10-year jail term in a separate case related to teachers’ recruitment scam.

The final report has sought Chautala’s prosecution under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED informed the court that disproportionate assets worth Rs 6.09 crore were “illegally generated” by Chautala between May 1993 and May 2006, through corruption and were projected as untainted property by utilising them in the construction and in acquiring movable assets.