The ED will file a chargesheet against Sanjay Chandra and others next week.
A chargesheet against debt-stricken property developer Unitech's former promoters Sanjay Chandra, Ajay Chandra and others set to be filed next week can rely on a Supreme Court-appointed forensic auditors' report, the court ruled on Thursday, in a move that the investing agency has said will make for a stronger case.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah cleared the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to rely on the Grant Thornton report after the investigating agency told the top court that it will file a chargesheet next week in a money laundering case against them.
Grant Thornton India had conducted a forensic audit by the order of the top court in 2018 on Unitech Ltd and its sister companies and subsidiaries.
The forensic auditors had submitted their report which said that Unitech Ltd received around Rs 14,270 crore from 29,800 home buyers from 2006-2014 and around Rs 1,805 crore from six financial institutions for the construction of 74 projects.
Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the ED, said the report will make the case stronger against the Chandras.
The top court also allowed Unitech's founder Ramesh Chandra to approach a special court at Patiala House Court in Delhi to seek bail in a recent case file against him by the ED. It further allowed Sanjay and Ajay Chandra, currently lodged in Mumbai jails, to hold video conference meetings once every fortnight and said that their family members can talk to them as per the jail manual.
On October 6, the top court had directed suspension of Tihar Jail officials, registration of a case against them and full-fledged probe into their collusion with Chandra brothers, based on Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana's report.
On August 26 last year, the top court had directed that the Chandra brothers be shifted from Tihar Jail in Delhi to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail and Taloja prison in Maharashtra after the Enforcement Directorate had said that they were conducting business from the premises in connivance with the staff.