SC grants bail to ex-Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi in money laundering case

NEw new delhi: The sublime margaret court on midweek granted bond to former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi in a money-laundering case, noting his seven-month incarceration in a trial that is unlikely to conclude soon.A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih said, “At this stage, continued detention does not appear necessary for the purpose of investigation or the conduct of the trial, as no further recovery is expected.”Imposing conditions on him to surrender his passport, cooperate fully with the trial, and not leave the country without permission of the special court conducting the proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the top court ordered his release upon terms and conditions to be determined by the trial court in addition to those contained in the order.The allegations against Joshi pertain to the period when he served as the minister for public health and engineering department (PHED) in the state government. He was arrested on April 24 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had filed a case in August 2023 based on a predicate offence investigated by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau concerning forged IRCON certificates used in PHED tenders in 2022–2023.Although he was not named in the initial case registered by the ED, a supplementary chargesheet revealed that more than ₹2 crore of proceeds was routed through a web of companies to a firm operated by his son, establishing the money trail.Additional solicitor general (ASG) S.V. Raju opposed the bail plea on behalf of the ED, pointing out that the accused is an influential person whose release would be detrimental to the deposition of witnesses—departmental officials or contractors—and could lead to tampering with evidence.The bail plea was initially dismissed by the trial court, after which the Rajasthan high court on August 26 also dismissed Joshi’s petition, leading to this appeal.Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for the former minister along with advocate Vivek Jain, informed the court that several co-accused in the case are already out on bail and that past decisions of the top court have frowned upon prolonged pre-trial detention.On examining the case records, the top court found that the entire case is based on documentary evidence running into 14,600 pages and that with 66 witnesses cited by the prosecution, the trial was at a very premature stage.Justice Masih, writing the judgment for the bench, said, “In our view, these circumstances indicate that the commencement of trial is not imminent and that the trial itself is not likely to conclude once started in the near future.”The court further noted that his age and past conduct, including promptly surrendering upon the expiry of interim bail, showed that the apprehensions expressed by the ED could be addressed through suitable conditions.However, it clarified that the trial court shall consider the material in trial without being influenced by this order.The order said the appellant shall surrender his passport to the special PMLA court, not leave India without prior permission of the PMLA court, and remain regularly and punctually present before the court and cooperate for early disposal of the case, as conditions for bail.