Delhi HC grants bail to ex-ADAG executive Amitabh Jhunjhunwala
The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, a former senior executive of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), in an alleged bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case.
Justice Madhu Jain said the health condition of the 70-year-old accused required “structured and continuing medical care”, making him entitled to the benefit of the statutory exception for grant of bail for “sick or infirm” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The judge said the material before the court disclosed a “combination of advanced age, significant spinal pathology, osteoporosis, the requirement of supervised rehabilitation, and a pre-existing cardiac condition requiring continued management.” Jhunjhunwala, arrested on April 15 by the Enforcement Directorate, sought regular bail on medical grounds in the case.
He will, however, continue to remain in custody in a case being probed by the CBI, in which he was arrested on June 1. The ED opposed the plea, saying the petitioner did not meet the threshold of being “sick” or “infirm”.
It was contended that his medical condition was under continuing supervision and investigations and treatment recommended by government hospitals were available through the custodial medical system. In the judgement passed on Tuesday, the court rejected the proposition that the petitioner must first reach a stage of “irreversible or imminent danger to life” before the proviso to Section 45(1) can be invoked for granting bail on account of him being “sick or infirm”, asserting that the object of a medical exception is not to wait until the consequences of inadequate treatment become irreversible, but to permit intervention in appropriate cases.
The court directed that Jhunjhunwala be released on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of like amount. It also imposed other conditions, including surrendering his passport, not travelling outside the country without permission and not influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence. The probe in this case pertains to an alleged bank loan fraud perpetrated through Anil Ambani group companies like Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) using shell or dummy companies.
Jhunjhunwala was a vice chairman and director of Reliance Capital Ltd, the parent company of RHFL and RCFL. He is considered a close aide of Ambani. After his arrest, the CBI took him to Mumbai from Tihar Jail in Delhi, where he was in judicial custody in the ED case.
