The Delhi High Court has released a former managing director of Lava International, Hari Om Rai, on bail over a money laundering charge connected with the Chinese smartphone maker Vivo.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri allowed the accused to seek bail on a personal bond of ₹ 1 lakh with one surety of equal amount due to the accused’s long-period custody. Also, all other co-accused in the present case have been released on bail. Rai had been in custody since he was taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in October last year.
The court pointed out that the trial is still in its early days, and it does not seem that the trial will enter its final stage in the near future because of the large number of accused persons, the huge amount of evidence, and the large number of witnesses. He stressed that the directions read in Section 45 of the PMLA were not intended to put an absolute ban on grant of bail. In the recent case, the Delhi High court recalled that the right of any person to remain personally free from unlawful detention is protected under Article 21.
The 25-page judgment went on to also clarify that the provisions of section 45 of the act cannot be used as a tool to detain a person for a longer period as distinguished from the ordinary heinous offence of murder or rape carrying life imprisonment or even death penalty. The court said that in situations where the continuance of the trial violates rights under the constitution, other bail conditions under PMLA have to give way.
Rai has been defended by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa and lawyer Abhay Raj Varma, who said that further confinement was unnecessary in the current situation. Previously, a trial court had rejected Rai’s bail in September in the absence of sufficient cause. Under the criminal provisions of PMLA, the ED has recently filed a chargesheet against Vivo-India and others for money laundering violations.
As a result of this order, Rai gets relief in the High Court and enlightened paths for justice along with the principles and constitutional protection have been set.
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