Court accepts ED's plea for open-ended non-bailable warrant against Sandesaras

A Delhi court on Saturday accepted the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking an open-ended non-bailable warrant against four including Sandesara brothers, promoters of Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Sterling Biotech Limited and accused in Rs 5,000 crore plus bank fraud case.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar allowed the petition after the ED cited that an open-ended non-bailable warrant will help them get red corner notices issued against the four accused. Those under the ED scrutiny are the firm's directors-Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara, Dipti Sandesara, and Hitesh Patel.

Unlike a non-bailable warrant (NBW), an open-ended NBW does not carry a time limit for execution, while the red corner notices are issued by the Interpol or International Police on the request of a member country to prohibit the movement and subsequent handing over of an accused from across the globe.

This hefty economic fraud came to light after a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on December 6 last year confirmed the attachment of assets worth Rs 4,700 crore of Sterling Biotech Group by the ED. The properties included movable and immovable properties of Sterling Biotech Limited spread across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, and so on.

The ED had previously moved the special PMLA Court in Delhi and filed the complaint under Section 4 of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against the four accused, who fled the country to allegedly avoid criminal investigations. Earlier too, the ED had sought permission to confiscate their properties in India and abroad.