Delhi High Court grants bail to former Lava MD Hari Om Rai in money laundering case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Hari Om Rai, the former MD of Lava International mobile company, in a money laundering case involving smartphone-maker Vivo.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri granted relief to the ex-Lava official, who was in custody since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in October last year.

The court considered the period of custody as well as the fact that all the other accused persons had been granted bail and the trial was at a "nascent stage", and directed that Rai be released on regular bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the like amount.

The court also said it was prima facie satisfied that the "twin conditions" for grant of bail, as enumerated in section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were met in the present case.

Rai was arrested on money laundering charges in the case against Vivo-India and others.

He was represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa and lawyer Abhay Raj Varma.

In the 25-page judgment, the court reiterated that Section 45 of the PMLA could not be used as a tool for incarceration and an accused in a money laundering case could not be equated with those facing offences like murder, cases of rape, dacoity, etc., which are punishable with death or life sentence.

"Section 45 of the PMLA while imposing additional conditions to be met for granting bail does not create an absolute prohibition on the grant of bail. When there is no possibility of trial being concluded in a reasonable time and the accused is incarcerated for a long time, depending on the nature of allegations, the conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA would have to give way to the constitutional mandate of Article 21," it said.

In the present case, the court said that there were multiple accused persons, thousands of pages of evidence and several witnesses and, therefore, the trial was not expected to end anytime in the near future.

"It is directed that the applicant be released on regular bail subject to him furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs 1,00,000 with one surety of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the concerned Jail Superintendent/Trial Court/Duty J.M./link J.M. and subject to.. conditions," ordered the court.

The ED had earlier filed a chargesheet against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo-India and others under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

A trial court had in September refused to grant bail to Rai, saying no grounds for relief were made out.

The ED has claimed the alleged activities of the accused enabled Vivo-India to make wrongful gains that were detrimental to the economic sovereignty of the country.

It has alleged that a whopping Rs 62,476 crore was "illegally" transferred by Vivo-India to China to avoid payment of taxes in India.

The company has rejected the allegations, saying it "firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance".

The anti-money laundering agency had raided Vivo-India and persons linked to it earlier in July 2022 and claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.