A Delhi court on Tuesday denied bail to three members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) accused in a money laundering case related to alleged terrorist activities.

Special Judge Shailender Malik dismissed the applications of Mohd. Ilias, Abdul Muqeet and Mohammad Perwez Ahmad seeking statutory bail claiming the probe agency had adopted delaying tactics and not filed the charge sheet within the legally stipulated time.

The accused were arrested on September 22, 2022 and are currently in judicial custody. The ED had filed the complaint against them on November 19, 2022.

"Evidently, the (prosecution) complaint (ED’s equivalent of a charge sheet) was filed within 60 days of the arrest of the accused,” the judge noted while declining bail to them.

He said the ED had moved an application with the prayer for withholding the identity of certain witnesses named in the complaint, and due to that the copy of the complaint and related documents could not be provided to the accused.

The counsel for the accused told the court since no prosecution complaint or related documents were supplied to the accused within the outer limit period of 60 days, in law complaint was not filed within the time frame and the accused had “indefeasible right” to be released on bail.

ED’s Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta opposed the bail application, saying the charge sheet was filed in time and the accused have no right to be released on bail.

He said the ED carrying out further investigation on certain other facets of the case did not mean that the charge sheet was incomplete.

“Having considered the submissions at bar and taking note of the fact that complaint in this case was filed in the court on November 19, 2022 which was within the period of 60 days since the arrest of the accused persons by the ED. In such situation no doubt due to certain lapses / misunderstanding, since ED had mentioned name of certain witnesses whom they had otherwise kept under the category of protected witnesses," the judge said. In such a situation, merely because the copy of the prosecution complaint and documents could not be supplied to the accused does not raise any ground for their release on bail, he said.

"Right of statutory ball/ default bail to my understanding arises only when investigating agency failed to file the charge sheet within the statutory period since the date of arrest of the accused, which has not happened in the present case," the judge said.

“Even otherwise mere taking liberty to carry out further investigation on certain further evidence/ other facets of the investigation also does not give any right for the accused to claim bail,” he said.

The ED had filed a charge sheet through Advocate Mohd. Faizan Khan against the three accused and the PFI, claiming Ahmed was the president of the Delhi unit of the proscribed outfit while Mohd. Ilias was its general secretary and Abdul Muqeet the office secretary.

The case relates to alleged laundering of Rs 120 crore over several years.

The PFI was banned by the Centre in late September last year over its alleged links with terror activities.

The ED had filed the case based on an FIR lodged by the NIA for alleged terrorism-related activities punishable under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The ED had alleged that the accused and other members associated with the organisation indulged in collecting funds by way of donation, hawala, banking channels, etc. which were being used for unlawful activities and commission of various offences.

The anti-money laundering agency alleged its probe found bogus cash donations and bank transfers were made. Funds were alleged to have also been transferred to India from abroad through a clandestine channel under a conspiracy hatched by the office bearers of the PFI over the years, the ED said.