SC allowed the appeal and granted regular bail to the appellant...

SC allowed the appeal and granted regular bail to the appellant accused of money laundering involving alleged use of forged IRCON certificates in PHED tenders. Applying Article 21 guarantees and its earlier interpretation of Section 45 PMLA, SC held that prolonged pre-trial incarceration cannot be justified where trial is document-heavy and unlikely to commence or conclude expeditiously. The appellant has been in custody for over seven months, the evidence is entirely documentary with numerous witnesses and voluminous records, and proceedings remain at the stage of supply of documents under Section 207 CrPC. Parity with co-accused already on bail further supported release.

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