supreme court granted bail to businessman anwar dhebar

The Supreme Court has said that there is no rule that a person accused of money laundering should spend one year in jail before getting bail, as it has brought relief to a businessman. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan granted bail to businessman Anwar Dhebar in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam case and said that there is no rule for a year to get bail. He was arrested in August last year and remained in jail for more than nine months. The Supreme Court said that the maximum punishment for the alleged crime is seven years and in view of the large number of witnesses, the case against Dhebar is unlikely to start soon.

The appellant was arrested on 8 August 2024. Forty witnesses have been cited. Investigation is on. There are 450 witnesses in this crime. Cognizance has not been taken in this crime. Therefore, there is no possibility of a lawsuit to begin in the near future. The maximum punishment is seven years. Citing the decision given in the Senthil Balaji case, the court said that Dhebar should be released on bail with strict conditions. The bench said that if there is a passport, it has to be deposited. The ED’s counsel urged the bench not to release the accused on bail, saying that he was arrested in August last year and has not been detained even for a year. The ED’s counsel said that the apex court is following the “one year custody criteria” to grant bail in various cases and presented that the same criteria should be followed in the case of Dhebar. The ED’s lawyer said that the accused is politically connected and an influential person, and his bail will obstruct the trial.

However, the apex court asked the lower court to release the accused within a week on the conditions fixed by the special court. Congress leader and brother of Raipur Mayor Ejaz Dhebar, Dhebar, was first arrested by the Income Tax Department in the money laundering case arising from the charge sheet filed in relation to alleged tax evasion and irregularities in liquor business in Chhattisgarh and some other states.