Mumbai:
Hasan Ali Khan, the businessman accused of hoarding black money worth 8 billion dollars in foreign accounts, has been granted bail. A Mumbai court rejected the Enforcement Directorate's request for Mr Khan's custody for 14 days; the judge said that the agency has not presented enough evidence to back claims that Mr Khan is linked to money-laundering.
"No material evidence has been presented by the Enforcement Directorate that shows any scheduled offence has been committed by Khan," Principal Sessions Court Judge M L Tahaliyani observed.
Mr Khan, a businessman from Pune known for his lavish parties, cars and stud farms, was arrested on Monday night. He has been accused of money laundering, and forging documents to acquire multiple passports. Before he was arrested, Income Tax officials had ordered him to pay a penalty of Rs 70,000 crore for tax evasion.
(Read : Who is Hasan Ali Khan?)The Enforcement Directorate first asked for his custody on Wednesday. At that time, the judge snapped at the Enforcement Directorate for basic lapses, like providing photocopies instead of original documents. "You have not been able to make any case and you want me to hear you. If you want to do some homework, you can take time," the judge said before adjourning the proceedings on Wednesday.
There were similar comments today. The judge said, "You people are not able to make out even a single case against him (Khan), so what do you want his custody for? What do you want to investigate him for? You people show one offence against him and then we can talk of custody."
In lieu of his bail, Mr Khan has been told not to leave Mumbai for the next five days. He has to report everyday to the Enforcement Directorate.
The Enforcement Directorate has said it will appeal in a higher court against Mr Khan's bail. The officials handling Mr Khan's case say that they need to interrogate him in custody to investigate his alleged links to international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. The Supreme Court had suggested that Mr Khan be tried on terror charges based on the allegation that Mr Khashoggi transferred large funds to Mr Khan's accounts in Switzerland.
Mr Khan and his lawyers have insisted that raids at his house on Monday did not provide officials with any evidence of the accusations against him. Sources in the Enforcement Directorate admit that the agency has not managed to corroborate the charges against him with Swiss banks.