The Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has confirmed the attachment of assets worth ₹7.59 crore held in the name of relatives and friends of Sudhir Parmar, a former special judge for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases, who faces corruption charge.
Mr. Parmar has been accused of receiving illegal gratification of ₹5 crore to ₹7 crore from the owners and promoters of IREO Group and M3M Group for extending favours to them. The assets attached by the ED comprises two of Mr. Parmar’s relatives and friends.
During the investigation, which is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Panchkula Anti-Corruption Bureau in Haryana, the ED found that the then judge had allegedly received illegal gratification in the form of loan from one Rohit Singh Tomar through his proprietorship firm into the bank accounts of the judge’s relatives, without any documentation.
The ED has so far arrested five accused persons in the case and filed prosecution complaints. Among those arrested was Ajay Parmar, a relative of the former judge. The ED had then alleged that favours were extended to the accused persons named Roop Kumar Bansal, his brother Basant Bansal, who are owners of M3M group; and Lalit Goyal, the owner of IREO group, in criminal cases.
“It is alleged [in the FIR] that undue benefit was provided to Sudhir Parmar through his relative Ajay Parmar. It was further stated that as per reliable information, instances [as stated therein] of grave misconduct, abuse of official position and demand/acceptance of undue advantage/bribe from the accused persons in the cases pending in his court were observed,” the ED had said in a statement.
The ED had also arrested Mr. Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal in the same case. Mr. Roop Kumar Bansal, promoter/director of M3M group, was arrested by the agency in connection with several FIRs alleging that public funds invested in IREO group and M3M group were diverted and siphoned off.