Former Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra secured bail from the Patiala House Court in a money laundering case. The court cited their prolonged incarceration of two and a half years without trial. Patiala court emphasized that further pre-trial detention should not be punitive.
A total of 71 individuals have been implicated in the case by the ED, with 121 witnesses. The court clarified that trial proceedings can continue even with the Chandras on bail. The Patiala court further said the purpose of pre-trial detention should not be punitive.
The co-accused, Preeti Chandra and Rajesh Malik, also obtained bail after 18 months in jail. The ED’s prosecution, under various sections of PMLA, targets 17 accused, including 14 companies and three individuals.
The Chandras were arrested by the ED for allegedly misappropriating funds from homebuyers. Despite the Supreme Court’s order to deposit Rs 750 crore, they failed to comply, leading to the denial of bail earlier. A forensic audit revealed Unitech collected Rs 14,270 crore from 29,800 homebuyers, with Rs 13,364 crore traced in bank statements, mainly between 2006 and 2014.