The Supreme Court has rejected former Punjab Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora's plea for interim bail, which was sought on medical grounds and the court said that if Arora requires medical treatment, the jail authorities are responsible for providing the necessary care while he remains in custody.
His regular bail plea is still pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Supreme Court also made it clear that the High Court should decide the regular bail application on its own merits and directed that its decision to reject interim bail should not influence the High Court's consideration of the regular bail plea. The order means Arora will continue to remain in custody for now, while the High Court separately hears and decides his regular bail application.
What is ED probing?
According to the ED, Arora allegedly coordinated a network of shell companies, bogus suppliers and fabricated export documents to show the export of nearly 44,000 iPhones to Dubai. However, investigators claim that the consignments never actually left India and existed only on paper, allowing the accused to claim export-related financial benefits while disguising the proceeds of crime.
The agency alleges that the fake mobile phone business was shown to be worth over ₹150 crore. More than ₹100 crore worth of iPhones were purportedly exported to two Dubai-based companies Fortbel Telecom FZCO and Dragon Global FZCO — which are also under the scanner. According to the ED, one of these firms had links with investments in Arora's real estate company, raising suspicion over the financial transactions.
Statements in the chargesheet
The chargesheet states that the alleged fraud relied on fake purchase invoices issued by shell or non-existent firms that had neither the financial capacity nor the infrastructure to supply such a large number of mobile phones. Investigators also found that several companies involved in the transactions shared common mobile numbers and email IDs, indicating that they were allegedly being operated as part of a coordinated network.
The ED has already attached assets worth around ₹55 crore belonging to Arora as part of its money laundering investigation.
Background of the probe
The probe stems from an FIR registered on April 18 at Gurugram's Udyog Vihar police station. The ED alleges that the fake export transactions were designed to obtain export incentives and conceal the origin of illicit funds through circular movement of money. Arora was arrested by the ED on May 9 following day-long searches at his official residence in Chandigarh. After his arrest, the Punjab government reassigned all his ministerial portfolios to other cabinet colleagues. He was later sent to judicial custody after the completion of his ED remand and continues to remain in jail.
Case remains under judicial consideration
The allegations against Sanjeev Arora form part of the ED's prosecution complaint and are yet to be tested in court. Arora has denied wrongdoing in the past, while the case remains under judicial consideration.
