Punjab and Haryana High Court denies bail to money laundering accused who sold properties attached by ED

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently declined to grant bail to a person accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) who in 2020 sold two of his properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) [Harmesh Kumar Gaba vs Asstt. Directorate of Enforcement, Govt of India]..The Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma said the accused Harmesh Kumar Gaba had wilfully violated the conditions of his anticipatory bail order which was passed in his favour in 2017.The Court rejected Gaba’s convention that he was only class III pass and had no intention to violate the bail conditions. “A bare perusal of the record would reveal that the Provisional Attachment Order No. 04/2015 was passed on 17.12.2005 wherein the identified properties to be attached were specifically mentioned. Subsequently, the petitioner was issued the notice to evict the properties under sub section 4 of Section 8 of PMLA Act. The record further reveals that the petitioner filed an appeal against the attachment order wherein the properties are mentioned. Thus, the petitioner was well aware of all the properties, which were attached by the Enforcement Directorate including the one which he has now sold. Thus, he cannot take the plea of ignorance due to illiteracy,” the Court said. .The ED in 2016 had filed a PMLA complaint against Gaba, his son and wife. The Special Judge (PMLA) at Patiala took cognizance of the ED complaint. Subsequently, Gaba was granted anticipatory bail by the High Court.However, the ED in 2020 moved an application for cancellation of his bail on the ground that he had violated the bail conditions by selling some of his properties which had been attached by the agency.Gaba in response said he was not well versed with English and had sold the properties after checking the revenue records. The High Court, however, did not agree and canceled his pre-arrest bail in December 2020. .The trial court in 2021 issued non-bailable warrants against him and later declared him a proclaimed offender. Gaba surrendered in July 2020 and sought regular bail.However, the High Court rejected his plea in March 2022. The Supreme Court in May 2022 gave him the liberty to approach the High Court once again after six months. He then filed the present bail plea before the High Court pursuant to that order of the apex court.The High Court in its order said there are serious allegations against him and if released on bail, there is an apprehension that he would once again violate the conditions and try to hamper the trial as well.“Also the 2nd regular bail petition filed by the petitioner is not maintainable, since no new exculpatory facts have arisen but a perusal of reply dated 09.03.2023 shows that there are inculpatory facts,” the Court said while dismissing the plea..Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhary with advocates Keshvam Chaudhary, Rishab Tewari and Diya Bhagwan represented the accused.Government of India Senior Counsel Arvind Moudgil along with advocates Jyotika Panesar, Naveen Kumar, Geetanjali Bhatia and Jaspreet Kaur represented the ED.[Read Judgment]