Supreme Court grants bail to man who spent 3 years in jail after posing as close aide of PM Modi to extort money

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Mohammad Kashif, accused in a money laundering case involving allegations that he posed as a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers to extort money from people. (Mohammad Kashif v. ED).A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh set aside the Allahabad High Court order that had refused bail to Kashif.The Court noted that Kashif had been in custody for nearly three years and that the alleged proceeds of crime in the case were ₹1.10 crore.“We are inclined to set aside the impugned order...for the reason that the appellant has been in incarceration for three years,” the Court observed during the hearing..During the hearing, Kashif also undertook that he would not use the names of high constitutional functionaries or government functionaries.The Court directed Kashif to cooperate with the trial. It clarified that if he does not do so, breaches the bail conditions or violates the undertaking, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) would be at liberty to move the trial court for cancellation of bail.Kashif had approached the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court order refusing him bail..The ED case arose from an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered in April 2023. The ECIR was based on a First Information Report lodged at Surajpur Police Station, Gautam Budh Nagar, for offences including cheating, forgery and offences under the Information Technology Act.According to the ED, Kashif had posted morphed and edited photographs of himself with PM Modi and other Union ministers on Facebook and Instagram. The agency alleged that this was done to create an impression that he had access to high-level government functionaries.The ED claimed that Kashif used this false impression to collect money from people by promising to get their work done through government departments, secure government jobs and obtain government contracts.The agency also relied on the alleged recovery of over ₹1.10 crore from premises linked to Kashif. It argued that this amount formed part of the proceeds of crime..Before the High Court, Kashif had argued that he had already been granted bail in the predicate offence and that he had remained in custody since May 25, 2023.He had also contended that there was delay in the money laundering trial. His counsel pointed out that charges in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case had been framed on November 7, 2023 and that the testimony of the first prosecution witness had concluded in August 2024.The ED opposed the plea and argued that there was no undue delay in the trial. It submitted that Kashif himself had moved applications before the trial court, including one seeking deferment of cross-examination of a prosecution witness.The High Court accepted the ED’s objections and refused bail. It held that the trial was progressing and that there was no undue delay caused by the prosecution..Kashif was represented by Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave with Advocates Nitish Rana and Vivek Jain..ED was represented by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju.