A special court in New Delhi on Monday granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti and her husband iShailesh Kumar in a money laundering case.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Ms. Bharti and Mr. Kumar, who appeared before the court in pursuance to summons issued against them, on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh with a surety of a like amount each. The judge directed them not to leave the country without the court's prior permission. The two had moved bail applications.
During the hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed their bail plea, saying they indulged in a “very serious” economic offence. “Persons on such a post are committing such kind of activities which are totally against the nation,” ED counsel Atul Tripathi said.
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The court asked if the probe agency had arrested the couple during the case investigation, to which the ED replied in the negative. This prompted the court to ask the ED, “Why do you now want the court to take them in custody?”
On February 8, the court issued summons against Ms. Bharti, her husband and Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt. Ltd. as accused in the case after taking cognizance of the ED charge sheet.
On December 23 last, the ED filed its final report against Ms. Bharti and Mr. Kumar. Earlier, it had attached a Delhi farmhouse of the couple in connection with the probe.
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The farmhouse, located at 26, Palam Farms in south Delhi’s Bijwasan area, was attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It was “held in the name of M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited”, the ED had said. “It was purchased in 2008-09, using ₹1.2 crore involved in money laundering,” it had alleged. It raided the farmhouse and a few other locations in July last as a part of its probe against two brothers — Surendra Kumar Jain and Virendra Jain — and others, who were alleged to have laundered several crores of rupees using shell companies.
The Jain brothers, currently on bail, were arrested by the ED under the PMLA.
Chartered accountant arrested
The ED had also arrested Rajesh Agrawal, a chartered accountant who allegedly mediated and provided a cash amount of “₹90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt. Ltd. as share premium.”
Ms. Bharti and her husband are alleged to have been directors of Mishail Printers and Packers Pvt. Ltd. in the past, according to the ED. “The company, M/s Mishail Packers and Printers, was registered at 25, Tughlak Road, New Delhi till the shares were bought by Ms. Bharti. It was only during 2009-10 that the address was changed to Farm no. 26, Palam Farms, VPO Bijwasan, New Delhi. Bharti and Kumar were the directors of the company during the relevant period,” the ED had said.
The ED had alleged that the Jain brothers, Mr. Agrawal, Ms. Bharti and Mr. Kumar were the “key persons behind the laundering of Rs 1.2 crore.”