The reason for the sessions court’s order was the inability of the ED to provide authentic evidence to back its claims that Khan has stashed away $8 billion in a Swiss bank UBS Zurich.
Principal sessions judge M L Tahilyani was furious at the ED relying on documents about Khan transferring $8 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) in UBS Surich. Shockingly, the UBS has said that the documents submitted by the ED to prove this investments were forged.“No material evidence has been presented by the Enforcement Directorate that shows any scheduled offense has been committed by Khan,” the judge observed, while granting bail to Khan on a personal bond of Rs 80,000 and two sureties. The court said the ED failed to prove that there existed a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), under which Khan has been arrested.
The ED raided his residence in Pune and offices of his associates in Kolkata and Hyderabad, and arrested him on Monday night.He has been accused of money laundering, and forging documents to acquire multiple passports. Before he was arrested, Income Tax officials had ordered him to pay a penalty of Rs 70,000 crore for tax evasion.The ED first asked for his 14-day custody on Wednesday. But, the judge snapped at the ED officials for basic lapses, like providing photocopies instead of original documents. “You have not been able to make any case and you want me to hear you. If you want to do some homework, you can take time,” the judge said before adjourning the proceedings on Wednesday. The ED presented the documentary evidence to the court in a sealed envelop on Thursday, but the judge was not impressed by it. On Friday also, the judge said, “You people are not able to make out even a single case against him, so what do you want his custody for? What do you want to investigate him for? You people show one offense against him and then we can talk of custody.”
One of the requirements to invoke PMLA is that the suspect should have committed a criminal offence and generated money from it. This money if the suspect converts into tainted money, then it becomes a case under PMLA. The only criminal case against Khan is of using forged documents to obtain multiple passports.