The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Delhi High Court to dispose of the bail application of Leena Paulose, wife of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, within three weeks in connection with the ₹200-crore extortion case.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh issued the direction while hearing a plea filed by Paulose seeking an expeditious hearing of her pending bail application. The court recorded the submission of her counsel that the matter had been pending before the high court for more than a year.
The case arises from allegations by the Delhi Police that Chandrasekhar duped the wives of former Ranbaxy promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh of around ₹200 crore. Multiple investigations against him are stated to be ongoing across the country.
Paulose and Chandrasekhar were arrested by the Delhi Police in the extortion case and are also facing proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate in a related money-laundering probe.
According to the police, the accused allegedly routed the proceeds of crime through hawala channels and parked the funds in shell companies. The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has also been invoked in the matter.
Taking note of the delay in the adjudication of the bail plea, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi High Court to decide the application within the stipulated three-week period.
