Court rejects bail plea of Saurabh Sharma, aide in money laundering case

Bhopal: A special court here rejected the bail application of former constable of the transport department, Saurabh Sharma, and his alleged aide, Sharad Jaiswal, in a money laundering case registered against them by the Enforcement Directorate. Chetan Gaur, another accused in the case who is in jail under judicial custody along with Saurabh Sharma and Sharad Jaiswal, did not move the bail application.The court heard arguments over the bail application of Saurabh Sharma and Sharad Jaiswal on Wednesday and reserved its judgment for the next day.Appearing in the court of Special Judge Sachin Kumar Ghosh, Advocate Deepesh Joshi argued that the charges against Sharma in the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) chargesheet are a figment of someone's imagination. The ED has no evidence to implicate his client in a money laundering case. They do not have evidence that Sharma owns a Rs 150 crore villa in Dubai, nor do they have evidence that the gold and cash recovered from Sharma belong to him, as the SUV in which they were found is not registered in his name.Advocate Vikram Singh, appearing for the ED, stated that the crime the two accused committed is serious in nature and opposed granting bail to them. After hearing both sides, the court reserved its judgment for Thursday. The ED filed a chargesheet against Sharma and his alleged aides in crime, Chetan Gaur and Sharad Jaiswal, on April 8, accusing them of possessing Rs 11 crore in cash recovered during the special police establishment (SPE), Lokayukta's raid at Sharma's house. Later, over 50 kg of gold, ornaments, and cash were found in an abandoned SUV near Kerwa reservoir, allegedly belonging to Saurabh Sharma.The special Lokayukta court has already granted bail to the three accused due to the SPE's failure to file the charge sheet against them within the designated time.