Supreme Court upholds bail granted to Bineesh Kodiyeri in money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the bail granted to Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of former CPI(M) Kerala State Secretary late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in a money-laundering case [Directorate of Enforcement vs Bineesh Kodiyeri]..A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta upheld an October 2021 Karnataka High Court order in this regard..The ED moved its appeal before the Supreme Court in April 2022, seeking cancellation of bail granted to Bineesh Kodiyeri.The case against Kodiyeri involves allegations of offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and was being jointly investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the ED..In August 2020, several persons were arrested by the NCB in Bengaluru for the possession of 60 grams of psychoactive drug, MDMA. Thereafter, the ED arrested one Mohammed Anoop in a related matter. Anoop told the ED that he was made a "benamidar" for one of Bineesh's restaurants, that Bineesh was his boss and that he (Anoop) did whatever was asked of him.During an interrogation, Bineesh is said to have told ED officials that he did know Anoop but had only lent him money to open a restaurant.The ED claimed that their investigation led to several bank accounts, some under Anoop's name as well, into which Bineesh had purportedly transferred huge sums of money which were proceeds of criminal activities.Therefore, the ED argued that further investigation was necessary to collect evidence to establish that Bineesh was guilty of the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA.After Bineesh was arrested, a city sessions court had initially refused to grant him bail citing his high-profile nature and the serious economic offences involved as per the NCB's FIR. The Court observed that the allegations against Bineesh included the involvement of a deep-rooted conspiracy and a network consisting of foreigners as well.On appeal, a single-judge of the Karnataka High Court granted Bineesh bail in 2021 subject to certain conditions. .The ED challenged this High Court decision before the Supreme Court in a special leave petition filed through advocate MK Maroria.This plea was dismissed today by the Supreme Court. Advocates Jishnu ML and G Prakash appeared for Bineesh Kodiyeri. Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj appeared for the ED.