Delhi HC to continue hearing Sukesh's plea on April 5 in EC bribery case
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to file written submissions in the latter's plea challenging the framing of charges against him under the anti-money laundering law in a 2017 Election Commission corruption case.
A bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma after hearing the matter at length said that the matter requires further consideration and listed it for next hearing on April 5.
"Both of you file written submissions. I am not issuing notice (at this stage)," he said.
It is the petitioner's case that since there is a stay on the proceedings in the Scheduled Offence matter, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) charges cannot continue in this case as framed by the Special Judge Geetanjali Goel of the Rouse Avenue Courts.
"As scheduled offence is the base and if base falls the structure will naturally fall. Owing to the stay in scheduled offence proceedings, it stands eclipsed and is not moving forward," Advocate Anant Malik for petitioner said.
"Thus at the time of framing of charge there did not exist jurisdictional facts before the court and court has committed an error in allowing these proceedings to continue," Malik added.
However, the ED's counsel said that the petition was a "dilatory tactic" and if the petitioner's argument is accepted, it would have "wide ramifications".
It was argued by the ED that under the law, any protection in relation to the scheduled offence would have no impact on PMLA offences except in certain cases like acquittal or discharge.
The charges are framed when there is a "grave suspicion" and a stay order does not "wipe off" a scheduled offence, it was added.
The allegations against the petitioner made by the respondent in its complaint
are that in April 2017, Chandrashekhar (petitioner) came to know that TTV Dhinakaran was desperate to get the election symbol of AIADMK, i.e., two leaves and thus impersonated himself as Saravana Kumar, lAS and took TTV Dhinakaran into confidence that he can get ECI order (regarding allotment of election symbol 'two leaves') in favour of TTV Dhinakaran, thereafter, the two struck a deal to illegally obtain a favourable order from ECI.
As a part of deal, TTV Dhinakaran sent cash of Rs 2 crore to the petitioner (who was impersonating himself as Saravana Kumar, lAS, as advance/token money from Chennai to Delhi through "hawala channels" on April 15, 2017.
In 2019, the high court stayed the trial against Dhinakaran and Chandrashekhar in the bribery case.
The trial court had framed charges against Chandrashekhar under PMLA in October last year after he was arrested earlier that year while he was in jail in connection with another case.
