Special Judge Shailender Malik dismissed the applications of the accused persons observing that the court did not find any case made out for the relief.

NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court has refused to grant “default bail” to three members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), who are accused in an ED-registered money-laundering case related to alleged terror activities. The case relates to the alleged laundering of Rs 120 crore over several years. Special Judge Shailender Malik dismissed the applications of the accused persons --Mohammad Ilias, Mohammad Perwez Ahmed and Abdul Muqeet -- observing that the court did not find any case made out for the relief. The accused were arrested on September 22, 2022 and are currently in judicial custody. The ED had filed a prosecution complaint (the federal agency’s equivalent of a chargesheet) against them on November 19, 2022. It was submitted by the accused that the agency had filed the prosecution complaint without completing its investigation and thereby, they should be granted default bail. Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta, who appeared in the court on behalf of the ED, submitted that merely because “further investigation” is going on, it cannot be assumed that the agency’s probe regarding the applicants remains incomplete. The recent order said: “This court, in the facts and circumstances of the case, does not find substance in the submissions on behalf of the accused/applicants, firstly because the complaint has been filed within the statutory period. A perusal of the complaint does not indicate in any manner that its investigation remained incomplete on the facts stated therein.” It was added that if at all the ED is carrying on “further investigation”, it is for additional evidence. “A meaningful reading of the complaint would also show that the investigation of the ED was complete qua the accused/applicants and they have enumerated details of the facts, evidence and documents collected during the investigation. Thus, to my mind, the accused/applicants are not entitled for the claim of default bail,” the order read. It is to be noted that “further investigation” does, by itself, mean that the earlier investigation was incomplete, the judge said. The ED had filed the prosecution complaint against the three accused and the PFI, claiming that Ahmed was the president of the proscribed outfit’s Delhi unit while Ilias was its general secretary and Muqeet the office secretary.