A special PMLA court has rejected the bail pleas of former Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) town planning deputy director Y. Shiva Reddy and builder Arun Gupta in an Enforcement Directorate (ED) money laundering case linked to 41 allegedly illegal buildings in Vasai-Virar, citing alleged disproportionate assets in Reddy’s case and Gupta’s alleged role in unauthorised land development and construction.
The ED arrested Reddy and Gupta in August last year along with former VVCMC commissioner and IAS officer Anil Pawar and former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi corporator Sitaram Gupta. The arrests were part of an investigation into alleged money laundering arising from the construction of 41 unauthorised buildings and structures in the Vasai-Virar region.
Reddy denied involvement in the alleged illegal constructions and argued that there was no connection between the properties seized during the probe and the alleged offence. Gupta similarly claimed that no scheduled or predicate offence was established against him and that there was insufficient evidence linking him to the alleged proceeds of crime.
The ED opposed the bail applications. Public prosecutor Kavita Patil submitted that investigators had recovered cash, bullion and jewellery valued at around Rs 32 crore from Reddy, which the agency alleged was disproportionate to his known income sources.
For Gupta, the prosecution alleged that he played a key role in developing unauthorised structures with other builders and selling them to buyers after collecting substantial amounts.
Court Cites Disproportionate Assets
Special PMLA Judge S V Sahare rejected Reddy’s bail plea, observing, “the accused is a public servant and the assets found in his possession were disproportionate to the known source of his income. He was unable to give plausible explanation for the same and hence the offence under prevention of corruption Act were invoked against him.”
The court further observed, “The investigation reveal that the proceeds of crime have been generated as a result of criminal activity relating to scheduled offence by the accused by procuring huge amount of cash, gold and diamond studded shows his specific jewellery, bullions and other luxurious items. This involvement in commission of offence of money laundering,” and added that the court was not required at this stage to conduct a detailed assessment of the evidence presented by the agency.
The court also cited a possible flight risk, noting, “there is enough material on record to show that there is possibility that, the Accused may abscond, if he is released on bail at this stage.”
Builder’s Bail Plea Also Rejected
In Gupta’s case, the court referred to his statement to the agency, under which he allegedly purchased around 30 acres of land, divided it into 70-80 plots and sold them.
The court observed, “the accused with other builders has gathered huge amount towards proceeds of crime by illegal grabbing of government and private land, subsequently making illegal construction over it or residential or commercial units. The accused rather than pursuing lawful development has knowing and intentionally grabbed the land which was reserved for government project and thus has conspired with other builders and developers for his own benefit by making unauthorized constructions and multi-storied apartments.”
While rejecting his application, the court further said, “It is needless to mention that due to misconduct of the accused. 2500 families were rendered homeless, losing their harden money as all the 41 structures were declared illegal by the Hon’ble High Court and were demolished.”
The court concluded that the material presented during the investigation justified rejection of both bail applications at this stage.
Source: The Free Press Journal
