Real estate director vs State — Punjab & Haryana High Court bail in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before Rouse Avenue Courts, Delhi, naming Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others, alleging laundering of proceeds of crime derived from the alleged fraudulent takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) properties worth over ₹2,000 crore by Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. Special Judge Vishal Gogne of Rouse Avenue Courts declined to take cognizance of the complaint in December 2025, holding it was not maintainable, while permitting the ED to continue its probe. The ED has challenged this order before the Delhi High Court, which issued notice to the accused on 22 December 2025. All persons named remain accused and are presumed innocent unless a court judgment holds otherwise.

The Supreme Court registered a suo motu case in October 2025 after a senior citizen couple from Haryana reported being defrauded of Rs 1.5 crore in a digital arrest scam. The Court issued 13-point directions to combat such scams nationwide, recognizing this as a widespread issue affecting multiple states and directing RBI, banks, and state authorities to implement urgent SOPs and cybercrime coordination mechanisms.

The Saradha Group, a Kolkata-based conglomerate, allegedly collected deposits of up to Rs 2,500 crore from lakhs of small investors across West Bengal and adjoining states through a Ponzi/collective investment scheme before collapsing in 2013. The Supreme Court of India directed the CBI to take over the investigation from the West Bengal state SIT, citing involvement of politicians and influential persons. Parallel proceedings are ongoing before the CBI's special court and a PMLA court in Kolkata, with multiple accused persons facing trial — in August 2024, the PMLA court dismissed the ED's money-laundering complaint against Senior Advocate Nalini Chidambaram for want of a prima facie case, and the Supreme Court subsequently disposed of her related plea as infructuous.