New Delhi, Oct 14 The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to industrialist Sanjay Sureka, owner of Concast Steel and Power Limited, in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi said the trial would take considerable time to conclude, as the trial court will have to go through documents running into thousands of pages and examine around 98 witnesses.
"The appellant must not be subjected to the rigours of custody as long as the trial is pending. Hence, the appellant must be released on bail, subject to furnishing of bail bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court and subject to such other terms and conditions as may be imposed by it," the bench said.
The top court directed Sureka to deposit his passport with the trial court and not leave the country during the pendency of the trial without its prior permission.
It also said Sureka shall not attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with the evidence while on bail.
In case of a breach of bail conditions, the trial court will be at liberty to cancel the bail of the appellant, it added.
According to the complaint, Sureka fraudulently inflated the company's turnover to secure substantial bank credit and diverted funds through shell companies.
According to the apex court order, the proceeds of crime involved amount to Rs 6,210.72 crore, of which only Rs 777.10 crore has been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) so far.
Sureka had allegedly created 62 shell companies, appointed 34 people as dummy directors and used 20 companies manned by his relatives to facilitate the offence of money laundering.
He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on December 18, 2024.
