Supreme Court – Daily Orders
Sant Kumar Sinha vs Union Of India on 24 June, 2025
ITEM NO.1 COURT NO.12 SECTION II-A
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) Nos.15177-15178/2024
[Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 21-06-2023
in CRM No. 30470/2022 23-08-2024 in CRM No. 61027/2024 passed by
the High Court of Judicature at Patna]
SANT KUMAR SINHA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
WITH
SLP(Crl) No. 2679/2025 (II-A)
SLP(Crl) No. 5905/2025 (II-A)
FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES ON IA
80400/2025
IA No. 80400/2025 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL
DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES
Date : 24-06-2025 These petitions were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. VINOD CHANDRAN
(PARTIAL COURT WORKING DAYS BENCH)
For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Gaurav Dhingra, AOR
Mr. R.K. Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Shashank Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Thakur, AOR
Mr. Ritesh Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Niranjan Swami, Adv.
Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Sr. Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Adv.
Digitally signed by
NEETU SACHDEVA
Date: 2025.06.24
Mr. Ajit Kumar, Adv.
16:35:24 IST
Reason: Mr. Kumar Dushyant Singh, AOR
Mr. Ankur Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. Bhishm Pratap Singh, Adv.
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For Respondent(s) :Mr. Samrat Goswami, Adv.
Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Adv.
Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv.
Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Mrigank Pathak, Adv.
Mr. Alankar Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Animesh Upadhyay, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
SLP(Crl) Nos. 15177-15178/2024
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri
Zoheb Hussain, learned standing counsel for the
respondent(s)/Enforcement Directorate.
These Special Leave Petitions are directed against
the orders dated 21.06.2023 and 23.08.2024 passed by the
Patna High Court rejecting the bail application of the
petitioner.
Be it stated that petitioner has been named as an
accused in a number of cases involving predicate offence.
On that basis, Enforcement Directorate (ED) commenced
investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,
2002 (for short, `PMLA’) whereafter the Enforcement Case
Information Report (ECIR) came to be filed. Finally,
prosecution complaint was filed by the ED on which
cognizance has been taken by the Special Court. In this
case, petitioner is in custody in connection with the
predicate offence since 29.10.2021.
On a query by the Court, learned counsel for the
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parties have informed that charges have not yet been
framed, not to speak of the trial commencing.
Having regard to the long incarceration of the
petitioner and keeping in view the fact that the maximum
sentence under PMLA is seven years, we are of the view that
present is a fit case for enlarging the petitioner on bail
insofar as the PMLA case is concerned. Accordingly, we
direct that the petitioner may be produced before the
learned Special Court within a maximum period of seven days
from today, who shall thereafter release the petitioner on
bail on appropriate terms and conditions.
The Special Leave Petitions are disposed of.
Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
SLP(Crl) No. 2679/2025
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri
Zoheb Hussain, learned standing counsel for the
respondent(s)/Enforcement Directorate.
This Special Leave Petition is directed against the
order dated 07.10.2024 passed by the Patna High Court
rejecting the bail application of the petitioner.
Be it stated that petitioner has been named as an
accused in a number of cases involving predicate offence.
On that basis, Enforcement Directorate (ED) commenced
investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,
3
2002 (for short, `PMLA’) whereafter the Enforcement Case
Information Report (ECIR) came to be filed. Finally,
prosecution complaint was filed by the ED on which
cognizance has been taken by the Special Court. In this
case, petitioner is in custody in connection with the
predicate offence since 07.08.2021.
On a query by the Court, learned counsel for the
parties have informed that charges have not yet been
framed, not to speak of the trial commencing.
Having regard to the long incarceration of the
petitioner and keeping in view the fact that the maximum
sentence under PMLA is seven years, we are of the view that
present is a fit case for enlarging the petitioner on bail
insofar as the PMLA case is concerned. Accordingly, we
direct that the petitioner may be produced before the
learned Special Court within a maximum period of seven days
from today, who shall thereafter release the petitioner on
bail on appropriate terms and conditions.
The Special Leave Petition is disposed of.
Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
SLP(Crl) No. 5905/2025
Heard learned senior counsel for the petitioner and
Shri Zoheb Hussain, learned standing counsel for
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the respondent(s)/Enforcement Directorate.
This Special Leave Petition is directed against the
order dated 07.10.2024 passed by the Patna High Court
rejecting the bail application of the petitioner.
Be it stated that petitioner has been named as an
accused in a number of cases involving predicate offence.
On that basis, Enforcement Directorate (ED) commenced
investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,
2002 (for short, `PMLA’) whereafter the Enforcement Case
Information Report (ECIR) came to be filed. Finally,
prosecution complaint was filed by the ED on which
cognizance has been taken by the Special Court. In this
case, the petitioner is in custody in connection with the
predicate offence since 11.08.2023.
On a query by the Court, learned counsel for the
parties have informed that charges have not yet been
framed, not to speak of the trial commencing.
Having regard to the long incarceration of the
petitioner, who is a lady, and keeping in view the fact
that the maximum sentence under PMLA is seven years, we are
of the view that present is a fit case for enlarging the
petitioner on bail insofar as the PMLA case is concerned.
Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner may be produced
before the learned Special Court within a maximum period of
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seven days from today, who shall thereafter release the
petitioner on bail on appropriate terms and conditions.
The Special Leave Petition is disposed of.
Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
(NEETU SACHDEVA) (PREETI SAXENA)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)
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