HC grants bail to Priyavrat Mandhana in money laundering case
Hindustan TimesMUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to Priyavrat Mandhana, 35, son of Mandhana Industries’ promoter, Purushottam Mandhana, observing that the Enforcement Directorate did not have sufficient reasons to arrest him. HT Image Mandhana had approached the high court, seeking immediate release from jail, claiming that his arrest by the ED was illegal for failure of its officials to furnish him “reasons to believe”, as mandated under section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. It was argued on his behalf that his arrest by ED officers, who entered his residence under the pretext of search and seizure, was illegal, untenable and against the principles enunciated in various pronouncement of the Supreme Court, especially in Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s case which required ED to record in writing “reasons to believe” as to why arrest was necessary. ED’s probe is based on a September 2023 case registered by the Bank Security and Fraud Cell of the CBI following a complaint lodged by Bank of Baroda accusing Mandhana Industries Ltd of diverting loan funds through fraudulent transactions and circular trading worth ₹975.08 crore and, thus, duping a consortium of banks led by the public sector bank.