Delhi court grants bail to I-PAC Director Vinesh Chandel after ED says no objection

A Delhi court on Thursday granted regular bail to Vinesh Chandel, director of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 13 in an alleged money laundering case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Amit Bansal of the Patiala House Court passed the order, noting that ED was not opposing Chandel's bail.

"The learned Senior counsel for the applicant has referred to PMLA Section 45 and has submitted that in the present case, the learned Special Public Prosecutor has been given the opportunity to oppose the bail, but he has not done so, and hence the twin conditions won't be applicable in this case," the Court noted.

According to the ED, Chandel is one of the founders and a 33% shareholder of PAC Consulting Private Limited and is under investigation in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by Delhi Police.

Earlier, the ED had raided the office of I-PAC in Kolkata's Salt Lake, leading to a stand-off with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

According to the ED, the investigation has uncovered multiple instances of financial irregularities involving the company. These include the receipt of both accounted and unaccounted funds, unsecured loans lacking legitimate business backing, issuance of bogus invoices and routing of funds through third parties.

The ED has also alleged use of domestic and international hawala channels to move cash.

"Investigation has further revealed that Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd was involved in laundering proceeds of crime to the tune of multiple crores. The amount detected so far is about ₹50 Crore," the agency claimed.