Delhi High Court denied bail to Leena Paulose in MCOCA extortion case linked to Sukesh Chandrasekhar, but granted relief in ED money laundering matter, as Prateek Jalan ruled separately.
The Delhi High Court declined to grant bail to Leena Paulose in the Rs 200 crore extortion case linked to her husband, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, but granted her relief in a related money laundering matter.
“I have rejected the application in the MCOCA case but allowed it in (ED case),” said Justice Prateek Jalan while hearing Paulose’s bail pleas in the two cases one investigated by the Delhi Police and the other probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Delhi Police have booked Chandrashekar for allegedly cheating the wives of former Ranbaxy promoters, Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, by allegedly extorting Rs 200 crore.
Police alleged that Chandrasekhar and his associates reportedly collected money from Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife, Aditi Singh, by posing as government officials and promising to secure bail for her husband, who was already in jail in a money laundering case.
The court noted that separate investigations against Chandrasekhar are currently underway in multiple cases across the country. The police invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the present case.
The Delhi Police alleged that Paulose, Chandrasekhar and other accused persons used hawala and created shell companies to store the money received as proceeds of crime.
The ED later launched an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the police case.
Chandrasekhar, husband of Paulose, defrauded the wives of former Ranbaxy promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh of nearly Rs 200 crore. He is accused of impersonating a law ministry official and extracting large sums by falsely promising to secure bail for their husbands.
Paulose was also alleged to be involved in the scheme and was arrested in 2021 on charges of extortion. In 2024, she moved bail applications citing prolonged incarceration of over three years, delays in trial, and the fact that co-accused had already been granted bail.
The Economic Offences Wing filed a chargesheet invoking multiple provisions of the IPC, the Information Technology Act, and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
Additionally, a parallel money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate alleged that the accused routed illicit funds through hawala channels and shell companies to conceal proceeds of crime.
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