Enforcement Directorate (ED) has informed the High Court on Wednesday that it will file before April 1 the chargesheet against alleged lobbyist Deepak Talwar in a money laundering case.
A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Vinod Goel was informed by ED’s special public prosecutor D.P. Singh that Mr. Talwar was arrested on January 30, and the 60-day statutory period is about to end.
An accused is entitled to statutory bail if the investigating agency fails to file a chargesheet within the mandatory period.
The court was hearing a habeas corpus plea which claimed that his arrest and custody from January 30 onwards was illegal detention. He has alleged that his fundamental rights were violated by the authorities. The matter has been listed for April 4.
A habeas corpus petition is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or in court, especially to secure his release, unless lawful grounds are shown for his detention.
The court refused to entertain Mr. Talwar’s prayer challenging the Constitutional validity of various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including the agency’s power to arrest and burden of proof.
