Supreme Court: In an appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment denying bail to Benoy Babu., Regional Manager of Pernod Ricard India, in the money laundering case, the bench comprising of Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, JJ. has granted him bail.
The present case arose out of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation. It was alleged that Delhi government officials had secretly allowed liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes. It was alleged that Benoy Babu was involved in the conversion of bribe money into legitimate funds.
The Court said that “Binoy Babu spent 13 months in jail, trial yet to start, a person cannot be kept in jail endlessly. This is nothing but a long pre-trial detention”.
Further, Justice Sanjiv Khanna orally stated that “there appeared to be contradictions between the allegations of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Enforcement as regards Beny Babu”.
He further said that “You can’t keep somebody behind bars without trial. Normally, trials should be concluded within 2 years”.
The Court also noted that Benoy Babu is not an accused in the CBI case, where he is a prosecution witness.
Thus, the Court granted him bail.
[Benoy Babu v Directorate of Enforcement, SLP(Crl) No. 11644-11645/2023 II-C, Order dated 08-12-2023]
