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Supreme Court of India

ARVIND DHAMversusDIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

Citation
2026 INSC 12
Decided
6 January 2026
Disposal
Appeal(s) allowed

Holding

Prolonged pre‑trial detention without a reasonable prospect of trial violates Article 21, and therefore the appellant is entitled to bail despite the seriousness of the alleged economic offences.

Summary

The appellant, a former promoter and non‑executive chairman of Amtek Auto Ltd., was arrested in July 2024 on allegations of massive bank fraud and money‑laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Despite cooperating with the investigation and being the sole accused taken into custody among 28 individuals, his bail applications were rejected by the Special Judge and the Delhi High Court, citing the seriousness of the offence. The Supreme Court examined whether prolonged pre‑trial detention of over 16 months, without any cognizance taken on the prosecution complaint and with no imminent trial date, violated the constitutional right to a speedy trial under Article 21. Relying on precedents that economic offences cannot be treated as a homogeneous class and that pre‑trial detention cannot become punitive, the Court held that the appellant’s continued incarceration was unlawful. Consequently, the Court quashed the High Court’s order and granted bail to the appellant pending trial, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court. The appeal was allowed.

Issues considered

  • The appellant’s entitlement to bail under Section 45 of the PMLA despite the gravity of the alleged money‑laundering offences.
  • Whether prolonged pre‑trial detention without commencement of trial violates the right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.
  • Whether the delay in trial is attributable to the prosecution or the accused.
  • The applicability of the proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA in the present facts.

Legislation cited

Headnote

Issue for Consideration Issue arose whether the appellant-promoter and non-executive Chairman of a group entity, entitled to bail in a money laundering case when there has been long period of incarceration and the trial has not even commenced. Headnotes† Prevention of Money Laundering Act Alleged bank fraud running into several hundred crores – Entitlement to bail – FIRs registered at the instance of public sector banks alleging fraud to the extent of INR 385.35 crores and INR 289 crores respectively by the appellant-former promoter and non-executive Chairman of

Subjects

Promoter and non-executive Chairman of a group entityBailMoney laundering caseLong period of incarcerationTrialBank fraudLaundering of proceeds of crimeUltimate beneficiary of the fraudDiversion and siphoning of public fundsCognizanceRight to speedy trialProlonged incarceration of under trialContinued incarcerationInvestigation

Judgment

                  [2026] 1 S.C.R. 119 : 2026 INSC 12

                             Arvind Dham
                                   v.
                      Directorate of Enforcement
                     (Criminal Appeal No. 47 of 2026)
                              06 January 2026
               [Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe*, JJ.]


                           Issue for Consideration
       Issue arose whether the appellant-promoter and non-executive
       Chairman of a group entity, entitled to bail in a money laundering
       case when there has been long period of incarceration and the
       trial has not even commenced.

                                 Headnotes†
       Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 – s.45 – Money
       Laundering – Alleged bank fraud running into several
       hundred crores – Entitlement to bail – FIRs registered at the
       instance of public sector banks alleging fraud to the extent
       of INR 385.35 crores and INR 289 crores respectively by the
       appellant-former promoter and non-executive Chairman of ‘A’
       company and non-executive Director of another entity, along
       with other individuals – On basis thereof, ECIRs registered
       alleging laundering of proceeds of crime – Allegation
       against the appellant that he is the ultimate beneficiary
       of the fraud executed at his behest, involving diversion
       and siphoning of public funds through layered entities –
       Appellant summoned, statement recorded, search carried
       out, and was arrested in June 2024 – Prosecution complaint
       and thereafter supplementary prosecution complaint filed
       against accused persons-individuals and companies, citing
       large number of prosecution witnesses, and cognizance of
       prosecution complaint was yet to be taken – Bail application
       by the appellant, rejected by Special Judge as also the High
       Court – Challenge to:
       Held: Right to speedy trial, enshrined u/Art.21 not eclipsed
       by the nature of the offence – Prolonged incarceration of an
       under trial, without commencement or reasonable progress of
       trial, cannot be countenanced, as it has the effect of converting
* Author
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                           Supreme Court Reports


       pretrial detention into form of punishment – Economic offences,
       by their very nature, may differ in degree and fact, and thus,
       cannot be treated as homogeneous class warranting a blanket
       denial of bail – On facts, no likelihood of trial commencing in the
       near future – Continued incarceration in such circumstances,
       where the evidence which is primarily documentary in nature,
       already in custody of the prosecution, violates the right of the
       appellant to speedy trial u/Art.21 – Appellant has cooperated
       with the investigation and investigation qua the appellant has
       concluded – Out of 28 individuals, only the appellant was arrested
       – Maximum sentence which can be imposed on the appellant is
       seven years – Appellant is in custody for past around 16 months
       and 20 days – No cognizance has been taken on the prosecution
       complaint and the proceeding is at the stage of scrutiny of
       documents – There are 210 witnesses to be examined in the
       proceeding – Allegation with regard to influencing the witness,
       does not inspire confidence, since the appellant has been in
       custody prior to concerned witness being formally arrayed as a
       witness – Delay in the trial attributable only to the respondent,
       not the appellant – Allegation of dissipation of proceeds of crime
       by him untenable at this stage – Thus, the impugned judgment
       and order quashed and set aside – Appellant to be released on
       bail during the pendency of the trial. [Paras 18-23]

                               Case Law Cited
       Manish Sisodia v. Enforcement Directorate [2024] 8 SCR
       1061 : (2024) 12 SCC 660; Padam Chand Jain v. Enforcement
       Directorate, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1291; Udhaw Singh v.
       Directorate Enforcement, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 357; Prem
       Prakash v. Union of India, SLP (Crl.) No.691 of 2023; Dineshchand
       Surana v. Asst. Director, ED, SLP (Crl.) No.15274 of 2024; Union
       of India v. K.A. Najeeb [2021] 1 SCR 443 : (2021) 3 SCC 713;
       Kapil Wadhawan v. CBI, SLP (Crl.) No.16953 of 2025; Kalyan
       Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan (2004) 7 SCC 528; B. Rajesh
       Ranjan Yadav v. CBI [2006] Supp. 9 SCR 40 : (2007) 1 SCC
       70; Bimal Kumar Jain v. Directorate of Enforcement, SLP (Crl.)
       No. 7942/2021; Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI [2022] 10 SCR
       351 : (2022) 10 SCC 51; Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh v. State
       of Maharashtra & Anr. [2024] 7 SCR 992 : (2024) 9 SCC 813;
       V. Senthil Balaji v. Deputy Director, Enforcement Directorate
       [2024] 10 SCR 393 : 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2626; Kalvakuntla
[2026] 1 S.C.R.                                                           121

               Arvind Dham v. Directorate of Enforcement


     Kavitha v. Directorate of Enforcement [2024] 8 SCR 717 :
     2024 SCC OnLine SC 2269; Sanjay Agarwal v. Directorate of
     Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1748; Ramkripal Meena v.
     Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2276; Anil
     Tuteja v. Directorate of Enforcement, SLP (Crl) No.3148 of 2025;
     Neeraj Singal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine
     SC 3598; Abdul Razak Peediyakkal v. UOI, 2023 SCC OnLine
     SC 2326; P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement (2020)
     13 SCC 791 – referred to.

                                List of Acts
     Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023; Prevention of Money
     Laundering Act 2002; Companies Act 2013; Penal Code 1860;
     Prevention of Corruption Act 1988; Constitution of India.

                             List of Keywords
     Promoter and non-executive Chairman of a group entity; Bail;
     Money laundering case; Long period of incarceration; Trial; Bank
     fraud; Laundering of proceeds of crime; Ultimate beneficiary of the
     fraud; Diversion and siphoning of public funds; Cognizance; Right
     to speedy trial; Prolonged incarceration of under trial; Continued
     incarceration; Investigation.

                            Case Arising From
     CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.
     47 of 2026
     From the Judgment and Order dated 19.08.2025 of the High Court
     of Delhi at New Delhi in BA No. 544 of 2025

                         Appearances for Parties
     Advs. for the Appellant(s):
     Mukul Rohatgi, Niranjan Reddy, Sr. Advs., Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi
     Agrawala, Ankur Saigal, Ms. Ayushi Gaur, Ms. Anwesha Padhi,
     Ms. Sanjivani Pattajoshi, Sameer Rohatgi, Shambhu K. Thakur,
     Rishabh Basra, Shobh Nath Maurya, E. C. Agrawala.
     Advs. for the Respondent(s):
     Suryaprakash V. Raju, A.S.G., Zoheb Hussain, Annam Venkatesh,
     Samrat Goswani, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ms. Anushka Gupta, Ms.
     Aakriti Mishra, Prakhar Bharadwaj, Pranjal Tripathi.
122                                                            [2026] 1 S.C.R.

                           Supreme Court Reports


                  Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court

                                  Judgment

       Alok Aradhe, J.

1.     Leave granted
2.     This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated
       19.08.2025, passed by learned Single Judge of the High Court of
       Delhi, by which the application preferred by the appellant under
       Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNSS’)
       read with Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,
       2002 (‘PMLA’) seeking grant of regular bail, came to be rejected.
3.     The appellant is a former promoter and non-executive Chairman of
       Amtek Auto Ltd. (AAL), and is also non-executive Director of M/s.
       ACIL Ltd., a company registered under the Companies Act. The
       group of companies including subsidiaries and associate concerns
       is collectively referred to as the “Amtek Group”. During the period
       2017-2018, Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) was
       initiated against entities belonging to Amtek Group.
4.     FIRs were registered on 21.12.2022 at the instance of IDBI Bank
       and Bank of Maharashtra alleging commission of offences under
       Sections 120B, 420, 406, 468 of the Indian Penal Code and Section
       13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, wherein
       the appellant was arrayed as an accused along with twenty seven
       other individuals. In the aforementioned FIRs there is an allegation
       of fraud to the extent of INR 385.35 crores and INR 289 crores
       respectively. On the basis of the said FIRs on 21.03.2023, the
       Directorate of Enforcement registered two ECIRs alleging laundering
       of proceeds of crime.
5.     A Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, being W.P.
       Criminal No(s). 246 of 2022 (Jaskaran Singh Chawla vs. Union of
       India and Ors.) was filed before this Court alleging failure of CBI
       and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to investigate
       frauds allegedly committed by Amtek Group involving diversion and
       siphoning of bank loans amounting to Rs.33,400 crores. A two-Judge
       Bench of this Court, by an interim order dated 27.02.2024, directed
[2026] 1 S.C.R.                                                         123

               Arvind Dham v. Directorate of Enforcement


     the CBI and SFIO to conduct an exhaustive investigation and to
     cooperate with and complement the Enforcement Directorate in the
     collection of evidence.
6.   The gravamen of the allegation against the appellant is that he is
     the ultimate beneficiary of the fraud which was a well-orchestrated
     scheme, executed at his behest, involving diversion and siphoning of
     public funds through layered entities, resulting in substantial wrongful
     loss to Public Sector Banks.
7.   The appellant, in response to the summons issued to him under
     Section 50 of the PMLA, appeared on 19.06.2024 and his statement
     was recorded. The respondent carried out search and seizure
     operations on 20.06.2024, at the residence of the appellant and
     his statement was again recorded. The appellant was arrested on
     09.07.2024. A prosecution complaint dated 06.09.2024 was filed
     against 16 accused persons i.e., six individuals and ten companies,
     wherein, appellant was arrayed as an accused. Thereafter a
     supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on 02.08.2025 against
     40 accused persons i.e., 22 individuals and 18 companies. Out of 28
     individuals, only the appellant has been arrested and is in custody.
     A total number of 208 prosecution witnesses have been cited. The
     cognizance of prosecution complaint is yet to be taken.
8.   On 16.12.2024, the appellant moved an application under Section
     45 of the PMLA for seeking bail before the Special Judge. The
     Special Judge by an order dated 21.01.2025 dismissed the
     application on the ground that the appellant is not covered by
     proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA. Thereafter, on 04.02.2025,
     the appellant approached the High Court by filing an application
     under Section 483 of the BNNS and Section 45 of PMLA, along
     with an application for interim bail. The appellant was granted
     interim bail on medical grounds on 11.03.2025 till 01.04.2025. By
     the impugned order dated 19.08.2025, the High Court rejected
     application for regular bail.
9.   Learned senior counsel for the appellant submitted that appellant is
     aged about 64 years and suffers from multiple ailments. It is further
     submitted that appellant is in custody for past about 16 months and
     20 days and his long incarceration, is violative of the Right to Liberty
     and speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution. In support of the
124                                                                               [2026] 1 S.C.R.

                                 Supreme Court Reports


       aforesaid submission, reliance is placed on decisions of this Court1.
       It is pointed out that out of 28 individuals only the appellant has been
       arrested and investigation qua the appellant stands concluded. In
       this connection, reference has been made to order dated 20.08.2025
       passed by the Special Court which records the submission of the
       ED. It is, therefore, contended that the custody of the appellant is
       no longer required. It is urged that no cognizance of the prosecution
       complaint has been taken and the matter is at the stage of scrutiny
       of documents.
10. It is submitted that there is no likelihood of trial commencing in
    foreseeable future. It is pointed out that delay in trial of approximately
    eight months is attributable to the respondent, as it had filed Crl.
    MC No.7860 of 2024 before the High Court challenging the order
    dated 07.09.2024 issuing notice to the proposed accused person.
    It is pointed out that in the said proceeding, the High Court had
    granted an interim order of deferment of proceeding before the
    Special Judge and after eight months, respondent, on 23.05.2025,
    withdrew the said proceeding.
11. It is urged that the appellant has cooperated with the investigation and
    the allegation with regard to influencing the witness, Ms. Anuradha
    Kapur, is incredulous as the appellant has been in custody since
    09.07.2024 and aforesaid Ms. Anuradha Kapur has been arrayed as
    a witness in supplementary prosecution complaint dated 02.08.2025.
    Therefore, the question of instructing the said witness not to join the
    investigation prior to issue of summons to her does not arise. It is
    pointed out that all close family members of the appellant have fully
    participated in the investigation. It is contended that the appellant is
    in custody since 09.07.2024 and has no knowledge of dissipation of
    properties at Panipat and Alwar. It is submitted that the appellant is
    not the Director of M/s. Marichika Properties and, therefore, has no
    knowledge about dissipation of properties mentioned in the chart at
    page 125 of the counter affidavit.


1   Manish Sisodia v. Enforcement Directorate, (2024) 12 SCC 660, Padam Chand Jain v. Enforcement
    Directorate, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1291, Udhaw Singh v. Directorate Enforcement, 2025 SCC OnLine SC
    357, Prem Prakash v. Union of India, SLP (Crl.) No.691 of 2023 – Order dated 04.10.2024, Dineshchand
    Surana v. Asst. Director, ED, SLP (Crl.) No.15274 of 2024 – Order dated 06.08.2025, Union of India v.
    K.A. Najeeb, (2021) 3 SCC 713, Kapil Wadhawan v. CBI, SLP (Crl.) No.16953 of 2025 – Judgment/Order
    dated 11.12.2025.
[2026] 1 S.C.R.                                                                                125

                   Arvind Dham v. Directorate of Enforcement


12. It is submitted that the allegations in the predicate offence allege a
    total bank fraud to the tune of INR 673.35 crores, therefore, the figure
    of INR 38,000 crores is deliberately exaggerated to project the instant
    case as India’s largest bank fraud to justify the prolonged custody of
    the appellant. It is urged that it is settled law that economic offences
    cannot be classified as separate class on its own for determination
    of grant of bail2. It is also stated that the appellant is neither a flight
    risk nor can he tamper with the evidence. Therefore, the appellant
    is entitled to be enlarged on bail.
13. On the other hand, learned Additional Solicitor General submitted
    that the gravity of the offence disentitles the appellant from seeking
    any exemption from the mandatory twin conditions of bail under
    Section 45 of the PMLA. It is further submitted that the appellant is
    an influential person and had instructed his cousin, Ms. Anuradha
    Kapur, who is a dummy director in his group of companies, not to
    join the investigation. It is also submitted that the appellant has
    dissipated the proceeds of crime i.e., immovable properties at Alwar
    and Panipat after attachment. It is contended that mere incarceration
    for a long period cannot be a sole ground for bail, ignoring the gravity
    of an offence especially when there are allegations of tampering
    with evidence and influencing witnesses3. It is contended that delay
    in trial, if any, is attributable to the appellant, which is evident from
    the order sheet of the Trial Court. It is further contended that the
    proviso to Section 45(1) of the PMLA has no application to the facts
    of the case.
14. It is submitted that out of 210 witnesses to be examined during the
    trial, 25 witnesses are common in both the prosecution complaints.
    It is pointed out that out of 63,691 pages of relied upon documents,
    only few pages are relevant to prove the loss. It is further pointed
    out that ED has filed an application on 27.09.2025 for day-to-day
    hearing. It is submitted that the appeal is liable to be dismissed.
    Alternatively, it is also pointed out that in many serious cases, this
    Court has directed the parties to re-apply for bail after sometime4 and


2   P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement, (2020) 13 SCC 791.
3   Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan, (2004) 7 SCC 528 and B. Rajesh Ranjan Yadav v. CBI, (2007)
    1 SCC 70.
4   Bimal Kumar Jain v. Directorate of Enforcement, SLP (Crl.) No. 7942/2021.
126                                                                              [2026] 1 S.C.R.

                                 Supreme Court Reports


       the appellant, depending upon the progress of the trial, be directed
       to renew the prayer for bail after six months.
15. We have given our thoughtful consideration to the rival submissions
    and have carefully perused the record. The court while dealing with
    the prayer for grant of bail has to consider gravity of offence, which
    has to be ascertained in the facts and circumstances of each case.
    One of the circumstances to consider the gravity of offences is also
    the term of sentence i.e., prescribed for the offence, the accused is
    alleged to have committed5. The court has also to take into account
    the object of the special Act, the gravity of offence and the attending
    circumstances along with period of sentence. All economic offences
    cannot be classified into one group as it may involve various
    activities and may differ from one case to another. Therefore, it is
    not advisable on the part of the Court to categorize all the offences
    into one group and deny bail on that basis6. It is well settled that if
    the State or any prosecuting agency including, the court, concerned
    has no wherewithal to provide or protect the fundamental right of an
    accused, to have a speedy trial as enshrined under Article 21 of the
    Constitution, then the State or any other prosecuting agency should
    not oppose the plea for bail on the ground that the crime committed
    is serious. Article 21 of the Constitution applies irrespective of the
    nature of the crime7. The aforesaid proposition was quoted with
    approval by another two-Judge Bench of this Court and it was held
    that long period of incarceration for around 17 months and the trial
    not even having commenced, the appellant in that case has been
    deprived of his right to speedy trial8.
16. A two-Judge Bench of this Court in V. Senthil Balaji’s case9 has held
    that under the statutes such as PMLA, where maximum sentence is
    seven years, prolonged incarceration pending trial may warrant grant
    of bail by Constitutional Courts, if there is no likelihood of the trial
    concluding within a reasonable time. Statutory restrictions cannot be
    permitted to result in indefinite pretrial detention in violation of Article 21.


5   P. Chidambaram (supra)
6   Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022) 10 SCC 51
7   Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra & Anr. (2024) 9 SCC 813.
8   Manish Sisodia (supra)
9   V. Senthil Balaji v. Deputy Director, Enforcement Directorate, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2626
[2026] 1 S.C.R.                                                                                        127

                    Arvind Dham v. Directorate of Enforcement


17. A three Judge Bench of this Court in Padam Chand Jain (supra),
    reiterated that prolonged incarceration cannot be allowed to convert
    pretrial detention into punishment and that documentary evidence
    already seized by the prosecution eliminates the possibility of
    tampering with the same.
18. The right to speedy trial, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution,
    is not eclipsed by the nature of the offence. Prolonged incarceration
    of an undertrial, without commencement or reasonable progress
    of trial, cannot be countenanced, as it has the effect of converting
    pretrial detention into form of punishment. Economic offences, by
    their very nature, may differ in degree and fact, and therefore cannot
    be treated as homogeneous class warranting a blanket denial of bail.
19. In the backdrop of aforesaid well settled parameters with regard
    to exercise of jurisdiction for grant of bail in economic offences,
    we now advert to the facts of the case in hand. The appellant has
    joined the investigation even prior to his arrest i.e., 19.06.2024 and
    02.07.2024 as well as on 09.07.2024. Thus, he has cooperated with
    the investigation. Out of 28 individuals, only the appellant has been
    arrested. The order dated 20.08.2025 of the Special Court records the
    submission of ED that investigation qua the appellant has concluded.
    The maximum sentence which can be imposed on the appellant is
    seven years. The appellant is in custody for past around 16 months
    and 20 days. It is pertinent to note that various Benches of this
    Court, while taking into account the period of incarceration which
    ranges from 3 months to 17 months in several cases have granted
    bail to the appellants therein10. In the instant case, no cognizance
    has been taken on the prosecution complaint and the proceeding
    is at the stage of scrutiny of documents. No material has been
    placed on record to show the fate of the application filed by the
    ED on 27.09.2025 seeking day-to-day hearing even after period of
    approximately three months has expired. There are 210 witnesses


10   P. Chidambaram (supra) (three months), Kalvakuntla Kavitha v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC
     OnLine SC 2269 (five months), Sanjay Agarwal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine SC
     1748 (ten months), Sanjay Agarwal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1748 (eleven
     months), Ramkripal Meena v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2276 (thirteen months),
     Anil Tuteja v. Directorate of Enforcement, SLP (Crl) No.3148 of 2025 (Order dated 15.04.2025), V. Senthil
     Balaji (supra) (fifteen months), Neeraj Singal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3598
     (sixteen months), Abdul Razak Peediyakkal v. UOI, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 2326 (seventeen months) and
     Manish Sisodia (supra) (seventeen months)
128                                                          [2026] 1 S.C.R.

                          Supreme Court Reports


       to be examined in the proceeding. There is no likelihood of trial
       commencing in the near future. The continued incarceration in such
       circumstances, particularly where the evidence which is primarily
       documentary in nature, is already in custody of the prosecution,
       violates the right of the appellant to speedy trial under Article 21 of
       the Constitution of India.
20. As regards the allegation that the appellant instructed Ms. Anuradha
    Kapur not to join the investigation, the same does not inspire
    confidence, particularly, in view of the fact that appellant has been
    in custody prior to concerned witness being formally arrayed as
    a witness. It is noteworthy that the appellant is in custody since
    09.07.2024 and Ms. Kapur was arrayed as a witness only on
    02.08.2025. The allegation, therefore, is wholly incredulous.
21. The record reveals that the prosecution complaint was filed on
    06.09.2024. The Special Judge issued notice on 07.09.2024 to all
    proposed accused persons under the proviso to Section 223 of
    BNSS. The respondent challenged the said order before the High
    Court, resulting in eight months stay of proceedings, before the
    Special Judge, which was lifted on 23.05.2025 only upon withdrawal
    of the petition. The delay in the trial is thus attributable only to the
    respondent, not the appellant.
22. The appellant has been in custody since 09.07.2024. The disposal
    of immovable properties occurred on 24.12.2024 and 17.02.2025
    and pertains to M/s Marichika Properties, with which no material
    link to the appellant has been established. There is no evidence that
    the appellant was signatory to any sale document. The allegation
    of dissipation of proceeds of crime by him is, therefore, untenable
    at this stage.
23. For the foregoing reasons, the impugned judgment and order dated
    19.08.2025 is quashed and set aside. The appellant-Arvind Dham
    shall be released on bail during the pendency of the trial arising out
    of prosecution complaint-ECIR Case Nos. ECIR/GNZO/13/2024 and
    ECIR/GNZO/14/2024, pending before the Special Judge (PC Act)
    (CBI)-02(Duty Judge), Rouse Avenue District Court, under provisions
    of the PMLA. The terms and conditions for grant of bail shall be
    fixed by the Trial Court.
[2026] 1 S.C.R.                                                      129

                  Arvind Dham v. Directorate of Enforcement


24. In addition, the appellant will provide one telephone/mobile No.
    on which he can be contacted by the Officers of Directorate of
    Enforcement to ascertain his whereabouts while he is on bail. The
    appellant shall surrender his passport to the Trial Court and will not
    leave India without permission of the Trial Court.
25. In the result, the appeal is allowed.

     Result of the case: Appeal allowed.




     †
         Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain


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