Delhi High Court grants bail to daughter of TMC leader Anubrata Mondal in ED case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, in a money laundering case relating to cattle smuggling [Sukanya Mondal Vs. Directorate of Enforcement].Justice Neena Bansal Krishna granted bail to Mondal after noting that the trial is likely to take a long time conclude and that the allegations against Sukanya were in the context of her father who is one of the prime accused in the case. "As has been observed in the case of Saumya Chaurasia, the Applicant may be an educated woman having her business and commercial enterprise, but it cannot be overlooked that the allegations against her are essentially in the context of her father and that she in her commercial ventures, has laundered the money received by her father as a bribe," the Court noted.Pertinently, the Court said that her father was granted bail on the ground that the documents involved are voluminous and the trial may take time to reach a conclusion. "Pertinently, Anubrata Mondal, the father of the Applicant, has been admitted to bail by the Apex Court essentially on the grounds of his incarceration in jail from August 11, 2022 and that the case was still at the stage of Section 207 of Cr.P.C. Looking at the number of pages in the chargesheet which were voluminous, and some were in Bengali which were required to be translated, Anubrata Mondal was admitted to bail. As has been observed in the context of this case itself while deciding bail of Anubrata Mondal, the documents involved are voluminous and the trial may take a long time to get concluded," the order said. Further, the Court also said that Sukanya would be entitled to bail under the beneficial provision available to women under the proviso to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)..The case arose after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case upon discovering illegal cattle smuggling racket in which cattle was being transported from West Bengal to Bangladesh.According to CBI, BSF commandant Satish Kumar and West Bengal Police Constable Sehgal Hossain used to collect illegal gratifications on behalf of Anubrata Mondal. The ED initiated a case on the basis of the CBI and alleged that the proceeds of crime received as illegal gratification was laundered by routing the money through Anubrata Mondal and Sukanya Mondal’s companies. Sukanya Mondal was arrested and later remanded to judicial custody on April 26, 2023. Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa argued that the ‘pick and choose’ policy of ED adopted in arresting the accused persons was discriminatory.It was also submitted that the proviso to Section 45 of PMLA makes special provisions for woman and sick who deserve relaxation of the twin conditions for bail under Section 45.Under section 45 PMLA, bail is granted only when the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the bail application and the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. However, the proviso to section 45 PMLA makes special exception for women, sick and accused under 16 years of age.Mondal said that she suffers from Gynaecological and Thyroid problems and had been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital in Chennai and she had been advised surgery which is due.Mondal submitted that she is 31-year-old single lady, has clean antecedents and is not a previous convict. It was further submitted that she has deep roots in the society and there is no apprehension of her running from the trial. She also contended that her custody is no more required for any purpose by the ED as the investigation is complete and the chargesheet has been filed. Further detention in jail would amount to pre-trial conviction, it was submitted.The allegations made by the ED in ECIR are based on frivolous and concocted facts, it was further claimed.She also sought parity with other accused many of whom were not even arrested.The ED countered by stating that ₹12 crore proceeds of crime were laundered by depositing it in several bank accounts related to Anubrata Mondal, Sukanya Mondal and their family members and firms.It was argued that though she sought to portray herself as primary school teacher, investigations revealed that she was actively involved in the finances of family business which she looked after on a day-to-day basis.Regarding her medical condition, the ED said that the documents submitted by her did not demonstrate any exigency or any serious condition demanding immediate intervention. Her submission of a scheduled surgery is not supported by any document and no recent document is submitted that would entitle the Applicant to benefit from the proviso to Section 45 of PMLA, it was contended by ED..The Court after considering the arguments said that the Supreme Court had recently held in Manish Sisodia case that right to liberty is sacrosanct which needs to be accepted even in cases where stringent provisions are incorporated in the special enactments.Furthermore, proviso to Section 45(1) of PMLA entitles a woman for special treatment, while her bail application is being considered, the Court said.In this regard, the Court relied on the decision of the top court granting bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha in Delhi excise policy case.In view of the above, it proceeded to allow Mondal's plea."The Applicant is admitted to regular bail upon her furnishing a personal bond in the sum of ₹10,00,000 and one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court," the High Court ordered. .Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa with advocates Shadman Ahmed Siddiqui, Garvil Singh and Nikita Jain appeared for Sukanya Mondal. Special Counsel Anupam S Sharma and advocates Harpreet Kalsi, Prakarsh Airan, Abhishek Batra, Ripudaman Sharma, Vashisht Raoo and Syamantak Modgil appeared for ED.[Read Order]