TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 1601
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....r bail in ECIR No. ECIR/STF/17/2025 registered by the Directorate of Enforcement ("ED"). The petitioner is presently in judicial custody and seeks bail primarily on medical grounds. BRIEF FACTS: 3. The brief facts are that the aforesaid ECIR came to be registered on the basis of FIR Nos. RC2242022A0002 and RC2242022A0003 registered by the CBI. The said FIRs relate, inter alia, to allegations concerning Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. ("RCFL") and Reliance Home Finance Ltd. ("RHFL"), including allegations relating to investments made by Yes Bank in the form of Non-Convertible Debentures/Commercial Papers and the alleged diversion of funds through connected entities. The ECIR records the allegation that proceeds of crime were generated from the scheduled offences and that the same were thereafter subjected to processes connected with money laundering. 4. The investigation under the PMLA, as set out in the material placed on record, concerns the alleged diversion of funds raised by RHFL and RCFL through a network of shell/group entities. The ED has alleged that an aggregate amount of Rs.15,933.65 crores was disbursed to such shell/group entities and that RHFL and RCFL subseq....
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.... from Tihar Jail as well as DDU Hospital, AIIMS, Dr. RML Hospital and LNJP Hospital. The petitioner states that subsequent investigations recorded, inter alia, further collapse of the D-11 vertebra, a fracture involving the right lamina of the D-11 vertebra, a pars interarticularis fracture at L4/L5, kyphosis, osteoporosis and sarcopenia. 9. The petition further refers to a cardiac episode recorded in the Tihar Jail medical records on 22.04.2026, when an ECG is stated to have shown ST elevation in leads V3 and V4. The petitioner asserts that this episode was not thereafter subjected to the cardiac investigations which, according to him, were required. 10. The petitioner states that he has, during his custody, been taken to various Government hospitals and Medical Boards and that, despite such referrals, he has not received the specialised and structured treatment. 11. The petitioner had earlier moved an application seeking regular bail on medical grounds before the learned Special Judge (PC Act), CBI-03, Rouse Avenue District Courts, New Delhi. The said application was considered and came to be dismissed vide order dated 05.09.2026. The present petition has thereafter been....
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....er Mahandru v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 3606 in support of the aforesaid submission. 16. Learned Senior Counsel submits that the petitioner also satisfies the requirement of being "sick". It is submitted that the proviso to Section 45(1) does not prescribe that sickness must necessarily be an imminently life-threatening condition, nor does the provision stipulate that an accused must first require immediate hospitalisation or surgery before the statutory exception can be invoked. 17. Learned Senior Counsel draws particular attention to the petitioner's cardiac condition. It is submitted that the petitioner has longstanding coronary artery disease with a prior coronary stent and significant coronary blockage. The petitioner was arrested on 15.04.2026 and was remanded to judicial custody on 20.04.2026. Thereafter, on 22.04.2026, the ECG recorded at the Jail Dispensary showed ST elevation, which, according to the petitioner, was indicative of a myocardial infarction. The petitioner submits that although cardiac medication was administered, the episode was not communicated to his family. 18. Learned Senior Counsel submits that the medical record thereaft....
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....C OnLine Del 2635, and Pranjil Batra v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine P&H 4188, to submit that custodial medical facilities cannot, in every case, be treated as an adequate substitute for specialised and continuous medical treatment. 23. Learned Senior Counsel submits that the learned Special Judge erred in applying a life-threatening standard to both "sick" and "infirm". It is submitted that, even assuming that a particular ailment does not constitute "sickness" in the requisite sense, the petitioner was required to be considered independently on the question of infirmity. Reliance is again placed on Kewal Krishan Kumar (supra) and Devki Nandan Garg (supra) in this regard. 24. Learned Senior Counsel also submits that the fact that some of the petitioner's ailments pre-dated his arrest does not take the case outside the proviso to Section 45(1). It is contended that a pre-existing ailment remains relevant to the petitioner's present state of sickness and infirmity, particularly where the medical material is relied upon to demonstrate subsequent deterioration. 25. Learned Senior Counsel submits that the petitioner's independent medical opinions were wrongly di....
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....nditions as may be considered appropriate. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDETS: 31. Per contra, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent/Directorate of Enforcement ("ED") opposes the grant of bail and submits that the present application is founded entirely on the proviso to Section 45(1) of the PMLA on the ground that the petitioner is "sick" or "infirm". It is submitted that the said proviso is an enabling and discretionary provision and does not confer an automatic right to bail merely because an accused suffers from an ailment or is of an advanced age. 32. Learned senior counsel submits that the medical exception under the proviso to Section 45(1) has to be applied in exceptional circumstances. He submits that, in the absence of medical material demonstrating a life-threatening condition or the inability of the custodial system to provide the requisite treatment, the statutory exception ought not to be invoked. Reliance is also placed upon the judgement in State of U.P. v. Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, 2020 SCC OnLine SC 843, to submit that before an accused is released on medical grounds, the Court must satisfy itself that the treatment available to him in ....
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....r coronary intervention are longstanding conditions which have been under continuous medical management. The petitioner continues to receive cardiac medication in custody. Reliance is placed upon the Dobutamine Stress Echo dated 06.07.2026 conducted at Dr. RML Hospital, which is stated to be negative for inducible ischaemia, with preserved ejection fraction and no regional wall motion abnormality. It is submitted that the RML Medical Board did not recommend revascularisation and advised continuation of the existing cardiac medication. 38. Learned counsel submits that the other medical conditions relied upon by the petitioner also do not independently or cumulatively warrant release on bail. Bilateral hearing impairment and the episodes of respiratory infection pre-date the petitioner's arrest; the right shoulder pathology dates back to 2018; the episode of near-syncope and hypotension was promptly managed with medication and the dermatological condition was addressed through referral to the Dermatology Department at RML Hospital and treatment at the Jail Dispensary. It is submitted that none of these conditions has been found to require continued hospitalisation or treatment una....
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....ions or the need to consider the possibility of interference with the investigation and trial. 44. Learned Senior counsel submits that the orders granting bail to certain persons in connected CBI proceedings in Mumbai do not create parity in the present proceedings, particularly as those orders were passed in distinct proceedings and under a different statutory framework. It is submitted that the petitioner's case has to be examined independently under Section 45 of the PMLA, having regard to the allegations, the material collected and the role attributed to him. 45. Learned Senior counsel accordingly submits that the petitioner has failed to establish either that he is "sick" or "infirm" within the meaning of the proviso to Section 45(1) of the PMLA or that the medical treatment required by him cannot be adequately provided in custody. It is submitted that his medical condition is under continuing supervision, the investigations and treatment recommended by the Government hospitals are available through the custodial medical system, and the petitioner's alleged role, the nature of the economic offence and the apprehension of interference with witnesses and the ongoing invest....
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....fe. Equally, the question whether a person is sick cannot be answered merely by examining whether he is presently medically stable. The statutory expression has to be understood in the context of the condition of the individual and the treatment which that condition requires. In Kewal Krishan Kumar (supra) this Court considered the expression "sick or infirm" in the context of a person suffering from multiple ailments and advanced age. The decision also recognises that medical restrictions affecting ordinary day-to-day activities can be relevant while examining infirmity. 50. In the present case, the medical material cannot be examined by isolating one ailment from the others. The petitioner has a history of coronary artery disease and prior coronary intervention. He also suffered a D-11 compression fracture prior to his arrest. During the period of custody, however, the subsequent medical record records continued spinal pathology, kyphosis and osteoporosis, apart from the cardiac complaints relied upon by him. The DDU Hospital discharge summary recorded painful and restricted spinal movements. 51. It is true that the RML Medical Board report dated 08.07.2026 describes the D-....
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....ion, however, cannot by itself conclude the issue. Conservative treatment is still treatment, and the question is whether the components of such treatment which have been advised are actually being received by the petitioner. The petitioner has placed on record material showing repeated referrals and diagnostic examinations, but has also pointed to the absence of structured and supervised physiotherapy and rehabilitation. The fact that a condition is being conservatively managed does not mean that no medical intervention is required. 56. This Court is also unable to accept the proposition that the petitioner must first reach a stage of irreversible or imminent danger to life before the proviso to Section 45(1) can be invoked. Such an interpretation would unduly narrow the expression "sick or infirm" and would effectively add words to the statutory provision. The object of a medical exception is not to wait until the consequences of inadequate treatment become irreversible, but to permit the Court to intervene where the medical condition and the surrounding circumstances justify such intervention. 57. The present case, therefore, is not one where the petitioner seeks to rely m....