You (ED) are only catching small fishes while I am surprised why till date no officials of the accused company... are arrested? Don’t do pick and choose, says Sidhartha Sharma
Calling the entire system corrupt, a Delhi court rapped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, stating that the agency should not adopt a pick-and-choose policy and catch only small fishes but also act against the key accused in the Rs 5,000 crore money laundering scam.
“The entire system is corrupt. You (ED) are only catching small fishes while I am surprised why till date no officials of the accused company (Gujarat-based pharma firm Sterling Biotech Ltd), the chartered accountants and others are arrested? Don’t do pick and choose,” Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma said.
The court was hearing the bail application of businessman Gagan Dhawan in connection to a Rs 5,000 crore money laundering scam. While reserving the order on the bail application, the judge also expressed displeasure that except Dhawan, no other accused was arrested in the “huge scam”.
Appearing for the ED, its counsel Nitesh Rana opposed the bail and said the accused was damaging the country’s financial health by helping others in committing offences of such a vast magnitude and enlarging him on bail will have serious consequences.
He also submitted that the investigation is at a crucial stage and the accused might escape from the clutches of justice.
Dhawan, who was arrested on November 1, had sought his release stating that he was not required for further investigation since the chargesheet has already been filed and no purpose would be served by keeping him in custody.
The ED had alleged that Dhawan had facilitated the directors of SBL in the purchase of several properties and helped in misuse and diversion of the credit facilities of several bank totalling Rs 5,000 crore.
Dhawan was arrested in an alleged bank fraud case involving the SBL under sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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