A Delhi judge held an unusual 2:25 AM hearing at her residence on the ED’s request for custody of a money laundering accused. The Court later remanded him to 14 days of ED custody after a late-night proceedings lasting till 6:10 AM.
A Delhi court held an unusual late-night hearing at 2:25 AM on Friday (November 14) when Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Shefali Barnala Tandon took up an Enforcement Directorate (ED) request seeking 14 days’ custody of an accused in a major money laundering case.
The hearing, which happened at the Judge’s residence, began even before the defence lawyer reached. When the matter was called, the defence counsel was still travelling.
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The Court allowed the accused, Swaraj Singh Yadav, to contact his father and find the lawyer’s number. After making the call, the lawyer arrived at the Court at around 3:05 AM.
Yadav and his lawyer were then given 20 minutes for a private meeting. The proceedings restarted at 3:30 AM, and after hearing both sides for several hours, the Judge passed the final order at 6:10 AM, allowing the ED’s plea and sending Yadav to the agency’s custody for 14 days.
He is scheduled to be produced again in Court on November 28 at 2 PM.
Yadav is the Managing Director of Ocean Seven Buildtech Pvt Ltd (OSBPL), a real estate company based in Gurgaon. The ED arrested him late on November 13, around 11:50 PM, for his alleged role in a nationwide money laundering scam involving funds from homebuyers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Yadav “fraudulently cancelled flat allotments” that were originally issued under PMAY and then “resold them at inflated cash-only prices”, without giving any refund to the earlier buyers.
The agency claims Yadav “siphoned off around Rs 220–222 crore” by using shell companies and misusing escrow accounts meant for homebuyer funds.
Investigators have further alleged that Yadav “rapidly liquidated both his personal and company-held assets”, which the agency believes may have been done because he expected legal action.
The ED’s case centres around the claim that funds collected under a government-backed affordable housing scheme were diverted for personal gain, leaving several homebuyers cheated.
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The late-night hearing highlights the urgency with which the agency sought custody, citing the seriousness of financial irregularities and the risk of destruction of evidence.
The Court’s decision to remand Yadav for 14 days gives the ED more time to investigate the alleged money trail, the role of shell firms, and the movement of large amounts of cash in violation of financial laws. The matter will now be taken up again on November 28.
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