Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday kept in abeyance the interim bail granted to S.C. Jayachandra, the suspended chief project officer of the State Highway Development Project, by a special court in a money laundering case booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The High Court also directed the special court to dispose the application filed by Mr. Jayachandra for grant of regular bail after hearing the ED’s special public prosecutor and the counsel for Mr. Jayachandra while fixing January 4 as the date for hearing the bail plea by the special court.
Justice Rathnakala passed the order while disposing a petition filed by the ED, which had questioned the December 15 order of the special court granting interim bail. The special court was also directed to dispose the bail plea within three drays from January 4.
While appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General of India (southern region) K.M. Nataraj contended that the special court’s order of granting interim bail cannot be sustained in law as provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act, 2002 bar a court from granting bail without giving an opportunity for the public prosecutor to oppose the same. The special court, it was contended on behalf of the ED, had not followed the provisions of the PML Act.
Appearing for Mr. Jayachandra, Senior Counsel C.V. Nagesh questioned the locus standi of an Additional Solicitor General (ASG) of India to represent the ED in the High Court without a notification of appointing the ASG as a prosecutor under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
However, the court disposed the petition stating that the interim order passed by the special court would merge with the order to be passed on the plea for grant of regular bail.
Mr. Jayachandra could not be released on interim bail as he could not furnish bonds as per the conditions imposed by the special court, and the Central Bureau of Investigation took him into custody.
