New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved an order on Vedpal Singh Tanwar's bail plea after hearing submissions from counsel for the petitioner and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court said it would pronounce the order today.Tanwar is an accused in a money laundering case linked to illegal mining in the Dadam area of Haryana.
Justice Girish Kathpalia reserved the order after hearing the arguments advanced by Advocate Zoheb Hossain, Special Counsel for ED and rebuttal arguments by Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa. Special Counsel Zoheb Hosain for ED, while opposing the bail plea, submitted that the accused is not in long incarceration as he was admitted on interim bail and was in the hospital for a considerable time. There is a 165-day effective incarceration only.
Hosain submitted that Tanwar is the mastermind in this case. He is not sick and infirm. As per the AIIMS report, he is perfectly fine. In his case, the twin conditions of PMLA squarely apply.
ED's counsel opposed the submissions made by the counsel for the accused, saying that no offence was made against him as the Environment Protection Act was decriminalised. ED argued that excessive mining began in February 2019. There was excessive sand and stone mining by the accused persons in this case.
Zoheb Hossain argued that the Punjab and Haryana High Courts have not issued an order quashing the FIR or the present ECIR. An FIR was registered in August 2023, and ECIR was registered in September 2023. Consequently, Tanwar was arrested in May 2024.
ED's counsel argued that the alleged offences under section 420 (Cheating) and 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) were part of the ECIR. "There is Illegal stone mining in this case. There are allegations of cheating. Fraudulent representations were made to the government as Tanwar was blacklisted by the Haryana government," Zoheb Hossain said.
"His firm, Ridhi Siddhi, was blacklisted by the Haryana Government. He was not allowed to participate in mining auctions. He was blacklisted, he can't bid," Hossain added. Hossain further argued that Tanwar did it through another firm, Goverdhan Mining and Mineral (GMM). Tanwar controlled the affairs of that firm. He was the CEO of GMM and withdrew his salary of Rs. 10 lakh per month.
On the other hand, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa advanced rebuttal arguments for Tanwar. He submitted that cognisance is not taken against Tanwar; prima facie, there is no offence against him. The NGT order has been set aside, and the FIR is pending. The special director of ED has become the complainant; she is also the informant, the Senior advocate added. Tanwar has moved a plea through advocate Sumer Singh Boparai and Aman Sharma.
ED had arrested Ved Pal Singh Tanwar under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on May 30, 2024, in connection with illegal mining in the Dadam area of Haryana. As per ED, it initiated an investigation on the basis of the Prosecution Complaint filed by the Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Bhiwani, before the Special Environment Court, Kurukshetra, against the Firm M/s. Govardhan Mines and Minerals for violating the conditions of the Environment Clearance under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Subsequently, an FIR was registered by the Haryana Police under various sections of the IPC, 1860.
ED said that the investigation revealed that the Firm has been involved in large-scale illegal and unscientific mining in the Dadam area of Haryana. It had led to large-scale damage to the environment and a huge loss to the exchequer. It is worth mentioning here that rampant illegal mining in the area led to the killing of 5 persons due to landslides, ED said in a press note.