The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Congress leader and former Forest Minister for Punjab Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in a money laundering case [Sadhu Singh Dharamsot v Directorate of Enforcement].The Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Vinod Chandran granted relief to the Congress leader more than a year after he was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)..Dharamsot was booked in 2022 by Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a bribery case. Subsequently, Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered against him leading to his arrest by the ED on January 15, 2024.In May 2024, he was granted interim bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to enable him to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. .However, his regular bail plea was dismissed by the High Court in September 2024. The Court had called him the kingpin of the 'Forest Scam'."Prima facie, it is evident that petitioner (while holding the Office of Forest Minister) collected huge proceeds of crime and laundered the same while projecting as untainted money through various modes. Apart that, petitioner accumulated disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹6,39,18,292.39/- as proceeds of crime and has utilized the same, projecting as untainted money," the High Court had observed.Dharamsot then approached the top court..Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi with advocates Aman Panwar and Sumer Boparai appeared for Dharamsot.
