Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case: Supreme Court Extends Interim Protection From Arrest To Mother & Wife Of Rape Convict Brajesh Thakur In Money Laundering Case

The Supreme Court has extended interim protection against arrest until completion of process to the mother and wife of rape convict Brajesh Thakur in the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Money laundering case. The Court extended the relief having regard to the fact that the petitioners were ladies and that the mother was of an advanced age.

Thakur and his family members, namely his mother and wife, are accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, for not utilizing the funds received from the Government and other sources for the welfare of the children in the NGO but for personal use and acquisition of properties. The mother of Thakur, Manorama Devi, and his wife, Kumari Asha, had moved the Supreme Court after their Anticipatory bail pleas were rejected by the Patna High Court.

The division bench of Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice M.M. Sundresh said, “the interim protection granted to the petitioners is extended until the completion of the process subject to the petitioners diligently participating in the further process as and when required to do so.”

In 2020, prosecution complaint case was filed before Special Judge, Patna under section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 against several accused including Thakur and his family members for illegally misusing the NGO funds.

According to prosecution, Manorama Devi had received over Rs. 47 Lakh in her bank account directly from the accounts of NGO.The alleged illegal cash and unaccounted cash were used for purchasing vehicles. Similar allegations are made against the wife of Thakur, Kumari Asha for utilizing the NGO’s fund for personal use including purchasing properties in her name and paying fees of her son.

In 2021, summons were issued against all the accused persons including the petitioners. Thereafter, anticipatory bail applications were filed, however it was rejected by Special Judge, Patna observing that they had assisted the main accused Brajesh Thakur in committing the offence of money laundering. The applications were also rejected by the High Court in 2023.

In March 2023, Special Leave Petitions were filed against the order of the Patna High Court. The Supreme Court had granted interim protection against arrest to both the petitioners while issuing notice to the respondents. Considering the submissions, it has now extended the protection against arrest until the completion of the case.

“Having taken into consideration all aspects of the matters and also the age of the petitioner in SLP(Crl.) No.3208/2023 and both petitioners being ladies, we are of the view that the interim protection against arrest granted to the petitioners on 03.03.2023 and 15.05.2023 in their respective petitions is to be continued,” observed the bench.

Accordingly, the petitions are disposed of.

Case Title- Manorama Devi v. UOI & Ors.

Counsel for Petitioners: Advocates Dhruv Gupta, Manik Dhingra, Gurmukh Singh, Kapil Madan, AOR Arjun Singh Bhati.

Counsel for Respondents: Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G, AOR Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocates Ameyavikrama Thanvi, Pratyush Srivastava, Amit Sharma B, Mukul Singh.

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