Unitech: SC furious as ED submits Chandras running 'secret office' with help from jailers

New Delhi: In a set of startling revelations in the Supreme Court, the Enforcement Directorate has said the Chandra brothers — Sanjay and Ajay — of the Unitech Group had been operating a "secret underground office" in South Delhi, in connivance with Tihar Jail officials, to freely communicate, instruct their officials, dispose of properties, and move around proceeds of their crimes from inside the jail — thereby rendering judicial custody meaningless.

Following these materials being made available to the top court in two separate reports, a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah on Thursday directed that erstwhile Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra be moved out of Tihar Jail here and be shifted to the Arthur Road Jail and Taloja Jail in Maharashtra.

The Bench said two reports of the Enforcement Directorate about the conduct of Sanjay and Ajay and connivance of Tihar Jail staff in flouting the orders and undermining the jurisdiction of the court have raised some serious and disturbing issues.

It said that the video conferencing facility at the jails to which the accused are being transferred shall be made available so as to enable them to record their presence in the court proceedings where their presence is required.

However, taking serious note of the violation of jail rules and connivance of Tihar Jail officials, the top court directed Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana to personally conduct an inquiry hereon about the conduct of Tihar Jail staffers with regards to the allegations against the Chandras in the ED's reports. It sought a report of this probe in the next four weeks.

The Bench clarified that the inquiry shall be conducted by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi personally and shall not be delegated to any other officer.

Significantly, in their reports, the ED has told the top court that they had unearthed the "secret office" in South Delhi and found that it was being operated by erstwhile Unitech founder Ramesh Chandra. It added that whenever Sanjay and Ajay would be out of jail on parole or on bail, they would visit the office.

The court added that the reports contain details of the manner in which the premises of Tihar Central Jail have been misused by the accused for engaging in illegal activities by flouting the jail manual, making transfers of assets and dissipating the proceeds of crime and influencing witnesses and attempting to derail the investigation. It added that an ED investigator had already written to the Delhi Police Commissioner about these allegations on August 16.

"What is of concern to the Court is that the jurisdiction of this Court is sought to be undermined in complicity with the jail staff, if the contents of the letter are true," the Bench said, adding: "The second status report elaborates upon several aspects which have been adverted to in the communication to the Commissioner of Police."

It said that letter's content and the material which has come on record indicate that, despite the orders of this Court, irregularities are taking place within the precincts of the Tihar Central Jail where the two accused have been lodged.

These activities undermine the authority of the Court and will derail the investigation which has been ordered by the Directorate of Enforcement, the Bench said.

It asked the Enforcement Directorate to proceed ahead with the investigation expeditiously saying that the probe in the matter has been proceeding at a tardy pace and the Court should be apprised of the status of the investigation within a period of four weeks from today.

The Bench posted the matter for hearing after six weeks and sought a status report of ED by then.

The top court noted that its order of May 9, 2019, adverts to the status report filed by M/s Grant Thornton, who were appointed as Forensic Auditors to assess the financial dealings of Unitech Ltd, which indicates that the auditors were not provided complete access to all electronic records, including those which were in possession of the Chief Financial Officer, Unitech Ltd.

In this backdrop, the Court recalled the facilities which had been made available to the accused — Sanjay and Ajay Chandra, former Directors of Unitech Limited who were lodged in Tihar Central Jail.

The Court directed that Sanjay and Ajay shall not be entitled to any additional facilities apart from those which are available in normal course in terms of the jail manual.

Both the erstwhile promoters were arrested in 2017 after they failed to deliver homes to as many as 17,000 buyers who had already paid either half or the full amount. It has been alleged that more than 50 per cent of the funds invested by the home buyers were allegedly siphoned off for personal gain by the Chandras.