Blackmoney: SC threatens to bail out Hasan Ali

Irked by the absence of any senior central law officer during the hearing of ED plea to cancel Hasan Ali Khan`s bail in a money laundering case, the Supreme Court threatened to vacate its stay on his bail.

New Delhi: Irked by the absence of any
senior central law officer during the hearing of Enforcement
Directorate plea to cancel Hasan Ali Khan`s bail in a money
laundering case, the Supreme Court on Thursday threatened to vacate
its stay on his bail.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir, Cyriac Joseph and S S
NIjjar vent its ire while rejecting the plea by a central
government counsel that Additional Solicitor General Haren
Rawal, who was to appear before the bench, was busy in another
court.

"We don`t want any such thing. You are playing with the
life and liberty of a person. This is unfair on your part to
obtain a stay and then cite some excuses," Justice Kabir
heading the bench said.

The apex court said it was not a mere question of ASG but
even the Attorney General G E Vahanvati was present on August
16 in a connected case and hence one of them should have been
present in the court.

Upset over the senior law officer`s absence, the bench
also rejected the profuse apology tendered by the junior
government counsel.

"Apologies will not do. We will be forced to recall our
order if your law officer (Haren Rawal) is not present here by
12:30," the bench warned.
The Supreme Court had on August 16 stayed the release of
the Pune stud farm owner on bail granted by the Bombay High
Court.

The three-judge bench had said that the effect of the
Bombay High Court`s order granting bail to him shall not be
operational till today.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by the
Enforcement Directorate challenging the high court`s order
granting bail to Khan, who has been accused in various money
laundering cases.

"The documents reveal that Hasan Ali Khan has huge funds
in his accounts to the extent of 800 million US dollars with a
bank outside India," the Enforcement Directorate had said.

The agency, in its petition, alleged that various
transactions led by Khan through his foreign bank accounts
reveal his association with international arms dealer Adnan
Khashoggi.

"The documents point to deep linkage between Khan and
Khashoggi," the agency further said while pressing for stay on
Bombay High Court`s order granting bail to Khan.

The high court had granted bail to Khan on August 12
after observing that the agency had failed to show the wealth
amassed by him was proceeds of crime.

The ED had said that Khan and his arrested accomplice
Kashinath Tapuriah had deep links with bank officials in the
US, Switzerland, Singapore, UAE and other countries.

It had alleged that Khan has links with Khashoggi, and
in 2003, USD 300 million was apparently received by him from
the arms dealer from weapon sales.

It had also said the accused had created a complex
maze of structures and transactions to hide the true source of
funds and frustrate the investigations.

PTI

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