Delhi Court Grants Bail To Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in Rs 200 crore money laundering case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in a money laundering case involving extortion of Rs 200 crore, saying excessive imprisonment violates the fundamental right to personal liberty and speedy trial.

What did the Court say?

While granting bail to Sukesh Chandrashekhar, Special Judge Vishal Gogne said that "personal liberty is a fundamental constitutional value and cannot be curtailed disproportionately, even in cases involving economic offences."

"Liberty being the most sacrosanct norm in our Constitution, the court cannot preach liberty from its decisions while playing footsie with the state upon the bogey of special legislation or economic offences,” the judge said.

Vishal Gogne while acknowledging the  seriousness of money laundering offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said that "Although the offence of money laundering is serious in nature, a special law like the PMLA is not a state tyranny that can be imposed on the liberty of the accused through a court. Therefore, despite the accused having 31 cases (including the present case) against him, his right to bail cannot be taken away in this particular case when the period of detention has already exceeded half the period of imprisonment provided under Section 4 of the PMLA. Moreover, when he is already on bail in 26 of the 31 cases."

Did court impose conditions?

Special Judge Vishal Gogne allowed the plea, directing his release on a personal bond and a surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each. 

However, Chandrashekhar will continue to remain in custody in connection with other pending cases against him.

In its order, the court directed that Sukesh Chandrashekhar be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and a surety of the same amount. 

The court also imposed several conditions, including prohibiting him from contacting or influencing witnesses, providing his address and mobile number to the investigating officer, surrendering his passport, and not leaving the country without prior permission.

What was the whole matter?

The 2017 case pertained to allegations against Sukesh of acting as a mediator for AIADMK leader T. T. V. Dhinakaran and bribing an Election Commission official to secure the party's 'two leaves' election symbol for the V. K. Sasikala faction.