New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended
till September 2 the stay on the release on bail of Pune-based
stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan who is accused in money
laundering cases.
The bail was granted earlier by the Bombay High Court.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar extended
the stay after Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal, at
the fag end of the day-long hearing on the black money issue,
told the court that the stay granted earlier would expire on
August 26.
The bench then extended the stay till September 2 as the
hearing on the issue would resume on September 1.
The apex court had on August 16 stayed till August 26,
the bail granted to Hassan Ali by the Bombay High Court on
August 12.
The court had 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 contended.
The agency, in its petition, alleged 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
the 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.
ED had said 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 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.
Meanwhile, during today's hearing, senior counsel Anil
Divan sought dismissal of the application moved by the Centre
for recalling the apex court's July 4 order directing the
setting up of SIT comprising retired SC judges justice B P
Jeevan Reddy and M B Shah to unearth the black money stashed
abroad.
He said the apex court had rightly constituted as even
the Centre had at that time admitted that the investigations
were not proceeding in the right direction.
"That was the finding of the court on the basis of the
concurrence of the petitioner and the government. The merits
of the findings cannot be questioned by way of a recall
petition," he argued.
The arguments would resume on September 1.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, August 25, 2011, 21:55