HC grants bail to high profile Pune bizman in ED case

MUMBAI: High profile Pune businessman Avinash Bhosale was granted bail by the Bombay high court on Wednesday in a money-laundering case.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant (Bhosale) is not guilty of the offences for which he is being prosecuted. The applicant is already granted bail in the predicate offence (registered by the CBI),” said justice Manish Pitale, while passing the order of bail.
Bhosale was arrested in June 2022 in a corruption case by the CBI and has been in jail ever since. He was under the CBI and ED scanner for transactions pertaining to investment made by him in Radius Group of Companies of Sanjay Chabbria in 2014-15, the sale of ABIL Dairy LLP to Sanjay Chabbria in January 2016, and fees received for consultancy services provided to Sanjay Chabbria.
The ED alleged that the sums involved in the above transactions were the proceeds of crime generated in kickbacks received by promoters of Yes Bank, which had found their way to Avinash Bhosale through Sanjay Chabbria.
The court has held that the transaction pertaining to the investment made by Bhosale in Radius – the material relied on by the ED – shows that the investment was made in 2014-15, which is much prior to the proceeds of crime being generated and coming into the account of Bhosale.
The court observed that Bhosale was also able to offer an explanation in regard to the inter group adjustments that had been made in regard to the sale of ABIL Dairy LLP to Sanjay Chabbria.
As for the consultancy fees, the court observed that the amounts pertaining to consultancy charges, having been transferred to Bhosale by Sanjay Chhabria prior to the proceeds of crime, were yet to reach even Sanjay Chabbria in July 2016.
The court then proceeded to say that Bhosale was able to satisfy the court on the grounds that he was not guilty of the offences for which he is being prosecuted, and he is already granted bail in the predicate offences. Bhosale was granted bail by the high court in the offences where the proceeds of crime were said to have been generated, by order of justice N. J. Jamadar dated May7, 2024.
The court also considered the fact that Bhosale had been incarcerated from June 2022, could only be imprisoned for a maximum of 7 years under the PMLA. Also, it noted, “There is remote possibility of trial even commencing and hence there is hardly any possibility of the trial being completed within a reasonable period of time” and stated “in this context, the applicant is justified in invoking his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India for speedy trial.”
Thereafter the court ordered Bhosale to be released on bail on furnishing a PR Bond of ₹1,00,000, also ordering him to report at the office of the Enforcement Directorate, Mumbai, from time to time till the conclusion of the trial. He is also ordered to surrender his passport with the trail court.