SC declines to release Amtek Group promoter on interim bail

New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea of Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham seeking interim bail in connection with a money laundering case.

At the very outset, a bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B. Varale referred to an earlier decision of the apex court, which had refused to extend Dham’s interim bail on medical grounds.

“Are you asking us to review that order? Your SLP was earlier dismissed by a 3-judge Bench! Now, you are trying to get the same relief in this vacation,” remarked the Justice Mehta-led Bench.

Sensing the disinclination of the apex court to entertain the matter, senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing on the petitioner’s behalf, sought liberty to withdraw the special leave petition(SLP). Ultimately, the court dismissed the SLP as withdrawn.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had turned down the prayer to release Dham on interim bail pending the disposal of his regular bail application.

Dham’s counsel argued that he had been languishing in custody for 11 months, and his regular bail application was pending for adjudication before the Delhi HC since February 2025. Opposing the prayer for interim bail till the disposal of the regular bail application, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had contended that the agency did not seek a single adjournment and there was no ground for the grant of interim bail.

The ED referred to the apex court's April 7 decision, which had refused to extend Dham’s interim bail on medical grounds.

In its order passed on May 30, a bench of Justice Ravinder Dudeja recorded that the regular bail application could not be decided partly because of the reason of change of roster and subsequently because of the filing of the interim bail application on medical grounds, which was dealt on number of dates, and thereafter because of the lengthy arguments on the bail application. "Since the matter is already part-heard on merits, I do not deem it appropriate to grant interim bail to the applicant/accused. However, keeping in view the question of liberty of the applicant/accused being involved, the date is preponed to 15.07.2025," Justice Dudeja ordered.

The ED initiated an investigation based on the Supreme Court's order on February 27, 2024, while hearing a PIL against Amtek Auto group of companies, which directed the federal anti-money laundering agency to investigate the case involving bank fraud by Amtek Auto Group to the tune of Rs 27,000 crore.

The top court expressed concerns regarding the diversion of public money, emphasising the necessity of a comprehensive money laundering investigation by the ED, even if the banks concerned had settled the accounts. Multiple FIRs were lodged by the CBI arising from the complaints by IDBI Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on allegations of illegally diverting bank loans by causing wrongful loss to the banks.

In the course of the investigation, the ED provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at Rs 557.49 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The probe revealed that the financial statements of group companies were deceitfully manipulated to obtain additional fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments in the books of accounts.

The ED had earlier conducted searches at more than 40 locations and subsequently arrested Dham and filed a prosecution complaint on September 6, 2024.

--IANS

pds/dpb