Saurabh Sharma’s bail plea rejected by HC

Bhopal/Jabalpur: The MP high court rejected the bail application of former RTO constable Saurabh Sharma holding that going by the evidence produced by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) including the statements of the accused persons in the case, a case of money laundering is made out against Sharma.Following seizure of huge cash and assets in the raids conducted by Special Police Establishment (SPE), Lok Ayukta, ED had stepped in and registered a case of money laundering against Sharma and 11 others. Sharma has been in judicial custody since February 4. After the special ED court in Bhopal refused to grant him bail, Sharma had moved to the high court to seek bail on the ground that the assets seized in the raid are not in his name. Appearing for ED, advocate Vikram Singh said that co-accused in the case have said that the assets were bought by Sharma in their name. Sharma founded shell companies in the name of his wife, relatives and friends. He also deposited money in the name of his son Aviral. Besides, the income tax department had seized cash of Rs 11.60 crore and 51.89 Kg gold from an SUV registered in the name of co-accused Chetan Singh Gaud but the SUV was at the disposal of Saurabh Sharma. The ED has attached assets worth Rs 108 crore. A civil suit is pending in a Delhi court regarding the property attached. As constable in the transport department, which, Saurabh Sharma, later quit, his salary was mere Rs 28,000 per month. The bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal had reserved its judgement in the case following arguments from both sides on July 30. In its order on Saturday, the court rejected the bail application while making it clear that observations made in the judgment were limited to the decision of the bail application and should not influence the trial of the case.