New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday has permitted Amit Katyal, a real estate businessman considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad's family and arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, to travel to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra for religious purposes and relaxed a key bail condition requiring his monthly appearance before the investigating officer (IO).

Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan allowed two applications moved by Katyal, with one seeking modification of bail conditions imposed in December 2024 and the other seeking permission to travel between April 17 and April 26.

The court granted him permission to visit Dwarkadhish temple in Gujarat, Shrinathji temple in Udaipur and Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai.

"Considering the submissions made… the accused is granted permission to travel to the aforesaid places upon furnishing the details of travel alongwith mode of travel and tickets alongwith bookings pertaining to stay during the aforesaid travel within one week of returning from the aforesaid travel in the court and intimation in this regard be also given to the investigating officer of ED," the court said.

Katyal had sought removal of conditions requiring him to mark attendance before the investigating officer on the fourth Monday of every month and to seek prior permission before leaving Delhi, arguing that the investigation against him had already been completed. His counsel also argued that since the ED office has shifted to Gurgaon, the two conditions contradicted each other as he would have to leave Delhi to mark his attendance.

Katyal had previously been granted interim bail on medical grounds due to his precarious health condition and history of chronic ailments, including diabetes, hypertension and complications following bariatric surgery. He further submitted that "his deteriorating health has prompted a desire to visit various holy and religious places, seeking spiritual comfort and well-being".

The ED opposed the plea, contending that the case involved "serious economic offences" and that relaxing bail conditions could hamper proceedings. It had argued that "economic offences constitute a class apart" and that bail conditions should not be diluted in such cases, citing the gravity of allegations and the interests of affected homebuyers.

It also raised objections on jurisdiction, stating that the prosecution complaint was pending before a Gurugram court.

Addressing the objection, the court held that the Gurugram proceedings did not bar it from deciding the present applications, noting that the anticipatory bail had been granted by this court and any modification of its conditions must ordinarily be sought before the same forum.

The judge also flagged a "peculiar" situation where the accused was required to seek prior permission to travel outside Delhi but faced uncertainty over which court could grant such permission, effectively leaving him "without any remedy".

Rejecting the jurisdictional objection, the court held that since the anticipatory bail had been granted by this court, it retained the authority to consider modification of its conditions.

"I find that there is force in the arguments advanced on behalf of the accused by saying that since it was a court in Delhi that granted anticipatory bail, the application for seeking modification also lies only at the court in Delhi. More so, since the only predicate offence pending against the accused is before the South East District, the present court is within its jurisdiction to decide the aforesaid application," said the court.

On the issue of monthly attendance, the court noted that the investigation against Katyal had been completed, his medical condition was deteriorating and he was not a flight risk as his passport had already been deposited in the court of Special Judge Vishal Gogne in connection with another Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) matter.

Accordingly, it modified the bail condition and exempted him from appearing before the investigating officer every month, while keeping the remaining conditions intact.

According to the ED, Katyal and his associates collected more than Rs 503 crore from plot buyers at Brahma City and Krrish World in Gurugram and diverted a significant portion of the funds into their own companies' accounts through shell companies and parked the same abroad, thereby generating and siphoning proceeds of crime. PTI MDB MDB KSS KSS