The high court on Friday ordered the Enforcement Directorate to arrange treatment for a Rose valley money laundering case accused who has been suffering from vocal chord cancer.

The court, however, refused the bail plea of Arun Mukherjee, who was one of the directors of Rose Valley.

“The ED is directed to take all measures so that the accused can get admission in any super speciality hospital for the treatment of his ailment. The cost of the treatment will have to be borne by the ED,” said Justice Shivkant Prasad.

On the same day, the judge also rejected the bail plea by Goutam Kundu, chairman and owner of the Rose Valley, who had been languishing in jail for four years and 11 months.

Mukherjee had been arrested by the ED in 2016.

Moving the petition for Mukherjee, his counsel Uttam Basak told the court: “My client has been falsely implicated in the case. He had no role to play in day-to-day affairs of Rose valley. Now, he has become a patient of vocal chord caner and thorough treatment is needed for his survival. The court should allow his bail prayer so that he can get treatment at any super speciality hospital.”

Appearing on behalf of Kundu, advocate Milan Mukherjee claimed that since his client had already spent four years and 11 months in jail, the court should grant his bail plea.

“Even if the charges against my client are proved, he could not be jailed for more than seven years. He had already spent more that half of the sentence. According to rules, the court has the power to grant bail to an accused who had already served more than half of the deserved sentence in jail,” the advocate said demanding the release of the client.

The ED counsel, Amajit De, opposed the bail plea and said: “ According to a memo issued by the Supreme Court, the court should not entertain the bail prayers of the accused arrested in the case where more that Re 1 core of money laundering is involved.”

Hearing both the sides, Justice Prasad rejected Kundu’s bail plea, but stressed the need for expediting trial.

The ED had arrested Kundu in 2015 on the charges of defalcating public fund of more than Re 50,000 crore. Later, eight of his associates, including Mukherjee, were arrested by the agency.

The ED filed its final chargesheet against the nine accused in 2016.