ED gets two weeks to respond to Raghav Bahl’s plea
The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stay the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money laundering case against media baron Raghav Bahl and granted “last opportunity” to the agency to respond to Bahl’s petition to quash charges. Justice Jasmeet Singh said that the court would take up the petition as well as the application seeking interim relief on January 16.
The counsel for the agency informed the court that the high court denied any interim relief to the petitioner last December and even the Supreme Court refused to interfere, but the applicant is again seeking a stay on the investigation. The petitioner cannot “ask this court, when they fail in special leave petition (before the top court), to sit on appeal against Allahabad High Court judgment that no scheduled offence is made out”, the counsel said.
The ED case against the petitioner arises from a complaint by the Income Tax (I-T) Department and concerns the alleged laundering of funds to purchase an undisclosed asset in London. Raghav Bahl who established Network 18 (later sold to Mukesh Ambani) is running The Quint portal and Bloomberg’s India (sold to Adani Group) operations.
PGurus published a series of reports of tax evasion, money laundering, and stock exchange manipulations by media baron Raghav Bahl. The Income Tax and ED caught Bahl for serious tax evasion charges and parking of money abroad in dubious ways[1]. PGurus reported the blatant stock exchange manipulation by Bahl through a shell firm known as PMC Fin Corp[2]. PGurus also reported another stock exchange manipulation by Raghav Bahl and his wife Ritu Kapur through another shell firm known as Gaurav Mercantile Limited.[3]
The Income Tax Department had initiated proceedings against the petitioner under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act of 2015 for alleged irregularities in the returns filed for the assessment year (AY) 2018-2019. In his petition, Raghav Bahl has claimed that since he has “done no wrong”, the continuation of the process of inquiry under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 “without having any subsisting basis in fact or law” has a “deleterious effect” on his life, business, and reputation.
Reference:
[1] Enforcement Directorate charges media baron Raghav Bahl for money laundering – Jun 07, 2019, PGurus.com
[2] Tax Raids, Press Freedom or PMC Fincorp – what are you hiding Mr. Raghav Bahl? – Oct 14, 2018, PGurus.com
[3] Why did the shares of a little known company Gaurav Mercantiles surge from Rs.20 to 148 in just six months? – Jul 09, 2019, PGurus.com
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Why are people scared of investigations?? In the financial misappropriation cases the evidence is all documentary why go for squashing the investigation? Most importantly why should be entertained in the court at all and that to at the level of SC. Are the delaying methods not obvious?