Court grants bail to CA in Rs 8,000 cr PMLA case

A Delhi court today granted bail to a chartered accountant, arrested in a money-laundering case and allegedly having links with RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misha Bharti who is also under scanner in an alleged disproportionate assets case.
Special Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra granted the relief to CA Rajesh Agarwal on a personal bond of Rs two lakh, noting that no purpose would be solved by keeping him in custody.
Agarwal sought the relief claiming he was in judicial custody and was no longer needed for custodial interrogation.
During the hearing, public prosecutor Nitesh Rana opposed the bail plea saying the probe was still on and this was not the right stage to release the accused on bail.

He told the court that the case was at the initial stages and if relief was granted, the accused may tamper with evidence.
According to the ED, Agarwal was associated with some transactions involving a firm allegedly linked to Misha Bharti, which is under scanner for suspected tax evasion.

The case had emerged after the ED had filed a criminal complaint in February this year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It was based on a charge sheet filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office against certain individuals and firms "for providing accommodation entries by accepting funds from their beneficiaries through mediators and converting the same into share premium transactions in the beneficiary company".

The ED claims that the entire racket could be worth about Rs 8,000 crore of slush funds.