Land for Jobs case: Delhi High Court grants bail to businessman Amit Katyal in ED case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to businessman Amit Katyal in a money laundering case pertaining to the alleged 'Land-for-jobs scam' involving former Union Railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav [Amit Katyal vs Directorate of Enforcement Government of India].Justice Neena Bansal Krishna granted Katyal, a former director of of AK Infosytems, the benefit of the proviso to Section 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was found to be “sick and infirm”.“The petitioner has shown his chronic physical ailment in detail which reflect that he can be terms as a person in the category of “sick and infirm” entitling him to bail without satisfying the Twin Test of Section 45.” .Under Section 45 of the PMLA, the bail is granted only after 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 the offence and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.However, the proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA makes special exception for sick and infirm, women and accused under 16 years of age..The Court also went on to say that ED has not been able to explain the necessity to arrest Katyal."The necessity of arrest of the petitioner has not been explained by the respondents. This in itself reflects not only a pick and choose policy of the respondent which has been deprecated by the Apex Court in the case of Sheetla Sahai (Supra) case, but also entitles the petitioner to bail on the principle that the role of the present petitioner is much less than that of the other accused persons,” the Court said.It added that out of the 17 accused in the money laundering case, none of the accused were arrested and prosecution complaint was filed without their arrest. .The Court also observed that Katyal has been in judicial custody since November 10, 2023, and trial could take a long time to conclude. “In the end, it may be observed that the investigations vis-à-vis him already stands concluded and the Prosecution Complaint stand filed. He is in judicial custody since 10.11.2023. The trial may take long to get concluded. No purpose for his further detention in judicial custody has been made out.”.In the present case, it has been alleged by the central agencies including the ED that Yadav, who was the Minister for Railways from the year 2004-2009, had made appointments to Group D posts in the Indian Railways, in exchange of land parcels to his family members and various companies. First, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a complaint against Yadav and other officials for abusing their official position. Thereafter, ED initiated a case on the basis of the CBI case..Senior Advocates Geeta Luthra and Vikas Pahwa along with advocates Bina Gupta, Gurpreet Singh, Bakul Jain, Jatin S Sethi, Namisha Jain, Nancy Shamim, Aakansha, Sheena Tauqli, Aadarsh Kothari, Manit Walia, Shivam Bansal, Aayushee Gautam and Rishabh Dahiya appeared for Amit Katyal.Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain along with Panel Counsel Vivek Gurnani with advocates Kartik Sabharwal, Pranjal Tripathi and Kanishk Maurya appeared for ED. [Read Judgment]