Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra, the former directors of the realty firm Unitech, will be shifted from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to Mumbai’s Arthur Road and Taloja Jail, the Supreme Court ordered today. The order came after the Enforcement Directorate informed the court that it has found a “secret underground office” in South Delhi’s Green Park that is being used by Unitech founder Ramesh Chandra and visited by his sons Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra “while on parole or bail”, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The agency said the brothers, in connivance with Tihar jail authorities, are conducting illegal activities, including contacting witnesses in the case, while being in jail. They have also been freely communicating with the outside world, instructing their officials, and disposing of their properties.
The top court ordered an investigation into the matter by the Commissioner of the Delhi Police.
The judges also pulled up the Tihar Jail authorities for acting in connivance with the Chandra brothers and engaging in illegal activities flouting the jail manual and derailing the investigation.
The agency has been investigating allegations of money laundering against the Unitech Group and the Chandra brothers. Earlier this year, the agency filed a case against the Group and the Chandras over allegations that they illegally diverted over Rs 2,000 crore to Cyprus and the Cayman Islands.
In a report earlier today, the Enforcement Directorate told a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah that it has submitted two status reports in a sealed cover and have provisionally attached Unitech’s properties to the tune of Rs 600 crore in India and abroad.
“During one of our search and seizure operations, we have unearthed a secret underground office, which is being used by Ramesh Chandra and visited by his sons when they are out on parole or bail,” Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, told the court, reported PTI.
“We have recovered hundreds of original sale deeds from that office, hundreds of digital signatures, and several computers which contain sensitive data with regard to their properties in India and abroad,” PTI quoted her as saying.
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