Supreme Court Flags ED's 'Pattern of Allegations Without Any Evidence'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday flagged the Enforcement Directorate’s “pattern” of making allegations without any material evidence to support them.

The apex court made the remarks when a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing the bail plea of Arvind Singh, an accused in the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam.

The remarks came after the Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, while appearing on behalf of the ED, failed to show specific material linking Singh to illegal earnings to the tune of Rs 40 crores, LiveLaw reported.

“We have seen umpteen number of complaints of ED. This is the pattern – just make allegations without any reference to anything,” Justice Oka was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

Singh's counsel said the investigation was ongoing while he had spent 10 months in custody. The ED had filed one main and three supplementary complaints and the case involved 21 accused, over 25,000 pages of documents and statements from more than 150 witnesses.

Raju said that Singh cannot be granted bail only on the basis of the voluminous material and said that the investigation is complete.

While the court asked the ED to specify the material relied upon to allege that Singh had earned Rs 40 crore in the scam, the ED said that Singh was closely associated with co-accused Anwar Dhebar.

Raju submitted that the WhatsApp chats between the two showed discussions on liquor policy, supplier market shares and supply of duplicate holograms used to sell counterfeit liquor through government shops, LiveLaw reported. 

Raju added that while it was falsely shown that genuine bottles were sold, money was clandestinely removed from the shop.

“These are general allegations. What is the material to show that he has earned Rs. 40 crores?” asked Justice Oka during the hearing.

"You have made specific allegation that he earned Rs 40 crores, now you are not able to show connection of this man with this or any other company. The method should [be] that you should state whether he is the director of those companies, whether [he] is majority shareholder, whether he is Managing Director. Something has to be there," remarked Justice Oka.

The ED has alleged that high-level state officials, individuals and political leaders were involved in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam case in which around Rs 2,000 crore was taken as bribe from distillers and country liquor was sold off the books.

The ED has faced criticism from the apex court in recent months. In August, the Supreme Court while hearing the bail plea of a Chhattisgarh-based businessman accused of money laundering, asked the ED to focus on quality prosecution and evidence, while citing low conviction rate in cases of money laundering.

The court made the observations after the Union government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (August 6) that out of 5,297 cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), convictions were secured in only 40 cases.

In November, the Supreme Court while hearing a petition filed by former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in a money laundering case, once again flagged low conviction rates in cases pursued by the ED and expressed concerns about keeping an accused in custody for a long period without trial.

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