New Delhi, April 7 A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar in an ED case related to the AIADMK's "two leaves" election symbol, noting that he had undergone detention exceeding half of the maximum seven-year sentence prescribed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne said the court's decisions cannot "preach liberty," the most sacrosanct constitutional norm, while "playing footsie with the state upon the bogey of special legislation or economic offences".
Chandrasekhar, who has been incarcerated in the present case since April 1, 2022, will, however, remain in jail in other pending cases lodged against him. He has secured bail in 26 out of 31 cases against him.
The Enforcement Directorate's (ED's) case stems from a 2017 Delhi Police FIR, which alleged that Chandrasekhar acted as a middleman for AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran and tried to bribe an Election Commission of India (ECI) official to secure the party's "two leaves" symbol for the faction led by V K Sasikala.
The FIR alleged that Rs 1.3 crore in cash was recovered from the accused, which was allegedly intended to be used for exercising undue influence with the ECI for obtaining a favourable election symbol for the Sasikala faction of the AIADMK.
According to the federal agency, Chandrasekhar coordinated with Dinakaran for the generation of proceeds of crime of Rs 2 crore and got it transferred from Chennai to Delhi, and later utilised and projected the proceeds of Rs 63.78 lakh as untainted money by making certain payments.
"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," Judge Gogne said.
He said while the offence of money laundering remains grave in nature, a special legislation like PMLA is not a "grouse" of the state to be exacted upon the liberty of an accused through the court.
"Thus, the existence even of 31 cases (including the present case) against the accused does not defeat his right to bail in this particular case when the period of detention has crossed the threshold of half of the period of proposed imprisonment under section 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the PMLA, more so, when he is already on bail in 26 out of the 31 cases," the judge said.
He noted that proceedings in the present case and in the predicate offence had been effectively stayed by the Delhi High Court, and that in the present case the accused "has not only served excessive detention during trial but also stands to suffer further prolonged detention without trial".
The high court had stayed the proceedings in the predicate case, which was at the stage of prosecution submitting its evidence, on September 30, 2019, while the ED case, at the stage of the accused leading defence evidence, had been stayed through its order dated January 6, 2024.
Rejecting the agency's "strident opposition" to the bail plea, the judge said that speedy trial of the accused was improbable and that "the circumstances of the accused" were "ripe" for extending him the near-mandatory benefit under Section 479 (1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The provision mandates that a person who has spent half of the maximum imprisonment period as an undertrial, except for offences punishable with death or life imprisonment, would be released on bail.
Allowing the plea, the judge said, "The court would record a plea of its judicial conscience to state that while liberty may, more often than not, lend itself to absolutism, arguments advocating wanton restraint upon liberty merit no such indulgence."
The court directed the accused to furnish a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each, besides imposing several other stringent conditions.
These include the accused not contacting, influencing or coercing any person or witness, furnishing his address and mobile phone number, surrendering his passport and not leaving the country.
The present court had earlier granted him bail in the Delhi Police's case for the scheduled offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act provisions on August 30, 2024.