"Obesity Root Cause Of All Diseases": Punjab & Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Money Laundering Accused Weighing 153 Kg

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail to a Money Laundering accused noting that he is an 'obese' person who weighs 153 kg and hence, considering his co-morbidities, his case would fall within the exception of being "sick" as carved out in the first proviso to Section 45 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

For context, Section 45 (1) of the PML Act says that before a person is released on bail or bond for an offence under the act, the public prosecutor must initially be given an opportunity to oppose the bail application and secondly, when the application is opposed, the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence and is not likely to commit any crime while out on bail.

The first proviso to Section 45 (1) of the PMLA further says that a person, who is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm [or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees, may be released on bail if the Special Court so directs

Stressing that Obesity is not just a symptom but is itself a disease that becomes the root cause of several other diseases, the bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill, observed thus:

"With such co-morbidities, the response, the resistance, the resilience, and the capacity of the body to fight ailments and recuperate efficaciously, decreases substantially. The jail doctor or for that matter, a civil hospital may not be fully equipped to handle a patient having multiple ailments who apart from medical treatment may require a certain level of monitoring, care, and attention which ordinarily is not available in jail."

Against this backdrop, considering the co-morbidities of the petitioner, the Court held that it can safely be said that the accused falls in the exception of being "sick" as carved out in Section 45 of the Act, so as to be entitled to be released on bail.

The case in brief

Essentially, it has been alleged that the accused was managing and handling the software which helped the prime accused in the Ponzi scheme to siphon off an amount of about 3000 crores that had been invested by innocent investors. It was further alleged that the petitioner had benefited to the tune of 53 crores through the scam.

The petitioner was arrested in March 2022 and booked under Section 4 r/w Section 70 of the PML Act. He moved the Court seeking bail on the ground that he was merely an employee of the company of the co-accused and was neither any Director nor a shareholder in the company.

It was further submitted that he weighs 153 kilograms and has various medical issues and is presently having precarious health which is deteriorating by the day and in these circumstances, his further custody could prove fatal to his health and life.

Challenging this argument, the State counsel submitted that the State is providing necessary medical treatment to the petitioner and he is being taken to hospital, as and when required and as such, the medical condition of the petitioner cannot be made a ground for his release on bail, given the fact that Section 45 of PMLA imposes stringent conditions for grant of bail.

However, considering the co-morbidities and precarious medical condition of the petitioner, the Court observed that it can safely be said that he falls in the exception of being "sick" as carved out in Section 45 of the Act, so as to be entitled to be released on bail. 

Consequently, the accused was released on regular bail on his furnishing bail bonds/surety bonds to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court/Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate concerned 

Case title - Pranjil Batra v. Directorate of Enforcement [CRM-M-23705-2022 (O&M)]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (PH) 288

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