ED files chargesheet against Supertech chairman R K Arora

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against Supertech chairman R K Arora in connection with a money laundering case in Delhi's Patiala House Court. 

The chargesheet filed on Thursday was filed before Special Judge Devender Kumar Jangala, stating that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Arora for laundering money. The court fixed August 28, 2023, for arguments on the cognisance point of the chargesheet.
Arora was arrested on June 27 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Chargesheet has been filed by ED's counsels, Naveen Kumar Matta and Mohd Faizan Khan.

Earlier, while sending Arora to ED remand, the Court said that "the power to seek remand is essentially a part of the power of arrest and to conduct investigation in respect to the commission of the alleged offence of money laundering, and this power has necessarily to be inferred with the help of the above Section as Section 65 of the PMLA, 2002, does not prohibit remand of an accused under the said act to ED custody".

The court also said that when it comes to the power of the ED officers to seek ED custody of the accused, it has been observed that though Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) does not confer any specific power in this regard, but this power has to be inferred with the help of provisions contained in Section 65 of the PMLA, 2002, and Section 167 of the CrPC, as Section 65 of the PMLA provides that the provisions of the CrPC shall apply, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, to arrest, search and seizure, attachment, confiscation, investigation, prosecution, and all other proceedings. 
"It is contended on behalf of the accused that the present ECIR was registered in the year 2021, and the applicant has been repeatedly examined by the investigating agency.

After completion of the investigation, a provisional attachment order dated April 11, 2023, has been issued, and hence there is no requirement for arrest. The issuance of a provisional attachment order by the competent authority does not mean that the investigation into the offences defined under Section 3 punishable under Section 4 of PMLA has been completed," the court noted.
It has been specifically stated by the ED that the investigation for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 3/4 of PMLA is not yet complete; therefore, the Enforcement Directorate is justified in seeking custody of the applicant/accused, the court said.

However, the court had earlier directed that his interrogation be conducted at some place with CCTV coverage in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and also in accordance with all the other applicable rules, directions, and guidelines on the subject, and the said CCTV footage shall be preserved. 

Earlier, ED apprised the court that 26 FIRS were registered by EOW, Delhi Police, Haryana Police, and UP Police against Supertech Limited and its group companies under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), read with Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust)/420 (cheating)/467/471 IPC, with allegations of cheating at least 670 home buyers for an amount of Rs. 164 crore. 

ED also alleged that the amount collected by Supertech Ltd. was diverted to their group companies for the purchase of properties, with the company with land having a much lesser value. ED alleged that the accused persons have acquired properties and made illegal/wrongful gains arising out of the said proceeds of crime by involving, indulging in, and commissioning criminal activities related to scheduled offences. It is stated that the prima facie case for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the PML Act has been made out.