The Supreme Court of India has taken action in the case of Avinash Bhosale, a prominent Pune-based builder caught in a web of financial allegations. On Tuesday, the apex court directed the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to assign a specific bench to hear Bhosale’s bail application in a money laundering case. This case is intricately linked to the high-profile Yes Bank-DHFL fraud scandal that has shaken India’s financial sector.
The decision came from a vacation bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Manoj Misra and including Justice S.V.N. Bhatti. The court’s intervention was prompted by the repeated adjournments of Bhosale’s bail plea in the Bombay High Court. These delays were attributed to time constraints and the frequent unavailability of opposing counsel, despite the case being listed multiple times as a priority matter.
Bhosale, the founder of the ABIL Group, finds himself at the center of a complex financial investigation. He was initially arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in May 2022, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following suit shortly after. The allegations against him are severe, involving the routing of ill-gotten money through his Maharashtra-based real estate companies. The ED’s probe has revealed that Bhosale allegedly received approximately Rs 68.82 crore from DHFL in 2018 under the guise of consultancy charges. However, investigators claim that no actual consultancy services were provided, and the funds were merely proceeds of crime.
The case has seen significant financial implications, with the ED attaching assets worth Rs 164 crore belonging to Bhosale under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. This action underscores the gravity of the allegations and the scale of the suspected financial misconduct.
It’s worth noting that while the Supreme Court has intervened to ensure the assignment of a bench for Bhosale’s bail hearing, it refrained from issuing any directives for an expedited disposal of the plea. The court has left it to Bhosale to approach the assigned bench of the Bombay High Court with any requests for urgent consideration.
This case is part of a larger crackdown on financial irregularities in India’s banking and real estate sectors. The Yes Bank-DHFL fraud case, in particular, has attracted significant attention due to its scale and the involvement of high-profile individuals and institutions. As the legal proceedings unfold, they are likely to have far-reaching implications for corporate governance and financial regulation in India.
Written by Maria Therese Syriac.
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