New Delhi: A Delhi court has rejected the bail plea of former Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) managing director Manoj Gaur in a money laundering case arising from an alleged Rs 14,599 crore fraud on homebuyers, remarking that while thousands who invested their hard-earned savings in pursuit of a dream home were “running from pillar to post”, the accused was allegedly “enjoying the proceeds of crime by layering of alleged business transactions.”
Additional sessions judge Dhirendra Rana, in an order dated Feb 16, observed that the allegations were serious, involving “thousands of crores and thousands of innocent home buyers.”
Further holding that Gaur failed to satisfy the twin conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act — that is the reasonable grounds to grant him bail and unlikelihood of committing any offence during the bail, the court dismissed his plea.
Gaur was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Nov 13 last year. The agency alleged that funds collected from thousands of homebuyers for construction and completion of residential projects were diverted for purposes other than construction, leaving projects incomplete.
According to the agency, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and JIL collected over Rs 33,000 crore for projects — Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens — in Noida and Greater Noida. The court noted that as per the examination of account books of JIL, it incurred expenditure of Rs 11,829 crore. Of 159 proposed towers, construction in 97 was stalled, with no work undertaken, meaning nearly “60% of the work remained incomplete”.
The court also observed an effort to transfer funds under the garb of the transaction by Gaur. “There is no explanation available on record as to why accused Manoj Gaur tried to transfer 17.69 acres of land through an unregistered document in favour of M/s Skyline Propcone Pvt. Ltd,” the court recorded, adding the attempt was only made after initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process proceedings, reportedly in attempt to mask transactions.
The court also pointed at the “exorbitant salary” drawn in by Gaur, amounting to 48 crore between 2009 and 2022, especially in a backdrop when his companies were running in losses.
The judge said Gaur had been chargesheeted in four cases and named in 11 FIRs on similar allegations, indicating a “tainted past.” “There is a strong possibility that he may tamper with the evidence, threaten the witnesses and may commit further offences of a similar nature, if released on regular bail,” the court said.
