Farmers Movement Archive

Money laundering case: HC grants bail to Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday allowed the bail plea of Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case on November 11. Also read: Punjab elections: BJP releases second list of 27 candidatesKhaira had moved the court seeking bail on December 13. A Mohali court had dismissed his plea on December 7. The order was passed by the high court bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur. The detailed order is awaited. The central probe agency had raided his premises in March 2021. Proceedings have been initiated in connection with a first information report (FIR) registered in 2015. A court had convicted four persons and by the same order, Khaira was summoned as additional accused. Khaira claimed political vendetta In December 2017, the Supreme Court had stayed his summoning. Khaira, who joined Congress in June 2021, has all along maintained that these proceedings are a part of political vendetta. Khaira claimed that the ED’s action was a case of witch hunt as he had been vocal against the three farm laws, later repealed by the Centre. The ED had initiated proceedings under Prevention of Money Laundering Act in January, even as there was a stay from the Supreme Court in the 2015 matter, he had claimed. The ED on the other hand opposed the bail and further claimed that he was an accomplice of drug case convicts and fake passport racketeers. The ED has also been claiming that he did not cooperate during custody.

Hindustan Times

27-01-2022

Chandigarh