The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Amtek Group chairman Arvind Dham in a high-profile money laundering case linked to an alleged ₹27,000 crore bank fraud, overturning a Delhi High Court decision that had previously denied him relief.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe allowed Dham’s appeal against the August 2025 order of the Delhi High Court. Justice Aradhe, who pronounced the judgment while sitting in a bench led by Justice PS Narasimha, confirmed that the Supreme Court had set aside the earlier decision and granted bail.
While denying bail last year, the Delhi High Court had emphasised the seriousness of economic offences like money laundering, especially in the context of emerging technology and artificial intelligence.
“With the advancement of technology and Artificial Intelligence, economic offences such as money laundering have emerged as a serious threat to the financial system of the country,” the High Court had noted, adding that such offences require thorough investigation due to their complexity, multiplicity of transactions, and layered corporate structures.
It had also cautioned that premature release of Dham could undermine efforts to secure accountability, weaken public confidence in the justice system, and jeopardise the ongoing trial.
“Granting bail too liberally in such matters risks sending a counterproductive signal… Continued custody is thus warranted,” the High Court had ruled.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) began investigating the Amtek Group under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following directions from the Supreme Court on February 27, 2024. Dham was arrested by the agency in July 2024 and chargesheeted two months later.
According to the ED, Dham and Amtek group companies allegedly manipulated financial statements to obtain fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments. The companies were then pushed into insolvency, resulting in over 80% haircut for banks and “substantial” losses to public sector lenders.
The ED provisionally attached assets worth more than ₹5,100 crore in September 2024. These included:
- 145 acres of land in Rajasthan and Punjab
- Properties in Delhi-NCR valued at ₹342 crore
- Fixed deposits and bank balances worth ₹112.5 crore
The assets were labelled as “direct proceeds of crime” and reportedly held through multiple group companies beneficially owned by Dham or controlled through Amtek-related entities.
The companies under ED scrutiny included Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL Limited, Metalyst Forging Limited, Castex Technologies Limited, and others.
Once a prominent player in the auto-components sector, the Amtek Group’s downfall became one of the country’s largest corporate bankruptcy cases, with banks writing off massive sums. The group’s collapse raised serious questions about due diligence in loan disbursals and regulatory oversight.
The SC’s decision to grant bail now places Dham outside of custody even as the ED’s criminal proceedings and trial under PMLA continue.
