Delhi court grants bail to three vivo-India executives

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to three vivo-India executives taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case earlier this month.

The court granted the relief observing that the accused were not produced before the court within 24 hours of the arrest, hence their “custody was illegal”. The trio had claimed that they were arrested on December 21 and not on December 22 as recorded by the ED.

The court of Vacation Judge Dr Shirish Aggarwal at Patiala House, however, imposed a condition that the three — Chinese national and interim CEO of vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal — will have to report to the federal agency’s office everyday till January 3.

This was done on the plea of the ED that told the court that it fears that the accused may “tamper with evidence and influence witnesses” and that it wants to appeal this order before the Delhi High Court soon after the HC opens after winter vacations on January 3.

The agency, as per official sources, while appealing against this bail order before the HC is expected to cite the recent Supreme Court judgement which upheld a Delhi HC order that rejected Supertech promoter R K Arora’s bail plea ruling that the grounds of arrest were duly given and notified to him by the ED.

The SC had further clarified the arrest procedure executed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in favour of the central agency.

In the latest case, the three accused moved the local court seeking bail as they claimed that they were arrested on December 21 and not December 22 as recorded by the ED and since they were not produced before the court within 24 hours, their arrest was “illegal and not sustainable in law”.

The ED counsel, however, contested the claim, saying after the three were “formally arrested, they were supplied with grounds of arrest and produced before the concerned court within 24 hours from arrest.” The court also directed the three to furnish personal bonds of Rs 2 lakh each, not tamper with prosecution evidence and influence witnesses, not leave India without its permission and surrender their passports with the court.

The ED had raided vivo-India and its linked persons in July last year and claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.

It then alleged that Rs 62,476 crore was “illegally” transferred by vivo-India to China to avoid payment of taxes in India.