Mumbai: A special court has granted bail to Vinod Chaturvedi, Managing Director of Usher Agro Limited, in a money laundering case, citing the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) as a “material change in circumstances.”
Chaturvedi was arrested in September 2020 in connection with an alleged multi-crore bank fraud, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) accusing his group of siphoning off loans taken from a consortium of banks.
The ED claimed that the “proceeds of crime have been identified and quantified to the tune of Rs 915.65 crore”, alleging the use of 15 shell companies and “bogus transactions” with Dewan Housing Finance Corporation group firms.
Despite previous bail rejections by the special PMLA court and the Bombay High Court, Chaturvedi argued in a fresh plea that the enactment of BNSS in April 2024 constituted a “material change in circumstances.” He contended that the BNSS provisions differ significantly from the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), particularly in granting bail and addressing custody of undertrial prisoners.
Citing Section 479(1) of the BNSS, Chaturvedi emphasized that first-time offenders can seek bail after serving one-third of their maximum sentence. He argued, “The maximum period of imprisonment under the PMLA is seven years. The accused, being a first-time offender, is entitled to seek bail under this provision, which was not available in earlier applications.”
Special PMLA Judge AC Daga observed that Chaturvedi had already served three years and two months in custody, exceeding one-third of the maximum sentence under the PMLA. “There is delay in commencement of the trial, and the accused has nearly completed half of the maximum term,” the judge noted.
Granting bail, the court concluded, “This is a fit case for granting benefit of the first provision of sub-section (1) of Section 479 of the BNSS, 2023.” The PMLA case is based on a CBI FIR alleging that Chaturvedi’s group misused loans through shell companies and bogus transactions.
