New Delhi, February 16 – The Delhi High Court on Monday granted bail to M K Faizy, the national president of the SDPI, in a case related to alleged money laundering involving the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ruled that in the absence of "concrete evidence," Faizy's association with the PFI alone was not sufficient to constitute the offense of money laundering.
Considering that he had been in jail for more than 11 months, Justice Bansal observed that his continued detention without the commencement and foreseeable completion of the trial would amount to pre-trial punishment, which is impermissible under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to speedy trial.
The case involves extensive records amounting to approximately 90,000 pages, over 240 witnesses, multiple accused, digital and forensic evidence, and complex financial transactions spanning several years, the court noted, as it concluded that the trial was bound to take considerable time.
The court stated that the provisions of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be interpreted to allow indefinite detention.
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009 and headquartered in Delhi, is alleged to be the political front of the now-banned PFI.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) contended in the high court that the SDPI was the "political front" of the PFI, and that any money received or deployed by the SDPI was effectively money under the control of the PFI.
The Union government banned the PFI in September 2022, calling it an "unlawful association".
The ED alleged that Faizy, 54, was not merely a member but a founding member of the PFI, which established his involvement in its affairs from the very beginning, as well as intimate knowledge of the organization’s structure, objectives, and modus operandi.
In the 46-page judgment, the court said that the ED's entire case against Faizy was based on association and his "late inclusion" in the seventh supplementary complaint by the investigating agency in 2025, but not in the original case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the anti-terror law, UAPA, reflected the absence of a prima facie case against him.
It also observed that the PFI was a lawful organization during Faizy's association from 2009 to 2018, and that he became a part of the SDPI, which remained a lawful political party, much before the PFI was banned in September 2022.
"The applicant may have been a founding member of the PFI since 2015 and remained a member until 2018, or that he may be a national president of the SDPI – these allegations are not enough to prima facie establish a case of laundering the proceeds of crime," the court said.
"There have been no prima facie allegations against the applicant in the predicate offence. The NIA, after conducting an extensive investigation spanning over three years from April 2022 to the present date, filed its chargesheet dated 18.03.2023 against 24 accused persons, arraigning 243 witnesses, but the applicant's name did not appear anywhere in the said chargesheet," it observed.
"Despite the ED sharing all its material with the NIA vide a letter dated 13.06.2025, the NIA has not filed any supplementary chargesheet against him (Faizy)," it observed.
The court added that there was no prima facie evidence that the alleged funds received in the accounts of the PFI/SDPI were generated from the commission of any scheduled offence.
The money being received from unknown sources, it added, may be getting utilized for various activities, but that per se does not make the donations "proceeds of crime" under the PMLA, the court noted.
It also said that Faizy's visit to the UAE in February 2016 for alleged "fund-raising" was for "merely 18 days" and much before the NIA registered the case against the PFI in 2018.
The court ordered that Faizy be released on bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety in the like amount.
It also imposed several conditions on him, including that he shall not leave the country without permission and will surrender his passport.
To establish that the applicant was actively involved in fundraising, the ED made an allegation that in 2016, the appellant had gone to the UAE from February 10 to February 29, i.e., for 18 days, much before the NIA registered the case on May 2, 2018.
The agency arrested Faizy last March at the IGI Airport in Delhi in connection with its probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The trial court had refused bail to Faizy in the case last August.
Before the PFI was banned, simultaneous raids and enforcement action were carried out against the organization by multiple probe agencies, including the ED, the NIA and various state police forces.
