Excise policy: Delhi HC directs medical test of Magunta's wife as he seeks bail

New Delhi, May 22 The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered medical evaluation of the wife of Raghav Magunta, the son of YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, in connection with a money laundering case related to excise policy.

Magunta has challenged Rouse Avenue Court's special judge M.K. Nagpal's order dated May 8 dismissing his interim bail plea filed on the ground of deteriorating health condition of his wife.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was earlier asked for its stand on Magunta's plea by the high court, opposed his plea saying that there could be chances of evidence tampering and that to be on a safer side, a medical examination of the accused's wife in a government hospital was required before he is granted interim bail.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma then directed that the medical examination be carried out at ESIC Medical College in Chennai within seven days, however, the probe agency said Magunta's wife's further evaluation should be conducted in a hospital in Delhi or Andhra Pradesh.

Contending that the accused's wife cannot be dislocated, counsel for Magunta said that the medical examination should be conducted in a hospital in Chennai only and that his client should be released during that period in order to help his wife.

The court has posted the matter for hearing next on May 29.

The trial court had, while denying Magunta bail, said that the seriousness of the charges against him, which pertain to money laundering, could not be ignored, as it expressed its dissatisfaction with the information provided regarding his wife's medical condition.

The documents then presented did not highlight any significant or serious health issues, leading the court to conclude that the other family members could potentially take care of her in Magunta's absence.

The court, in its order, had noted that Magunta did not argue that no one from his family was available to assume this responsibility, and consequently, the application for interim bail was devoid of merit.

"Hence, in light of the above discussion, the present application moved on behalf of the applicant seeking interim bail in the case is dismissed," the judge had said.

Magunta was arrested in February under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED has alleged that he was involved in various activities of possession, use, transfer etc. of the proceeds of crime worth at least Rs 180 crore.

According to the ED's charge sheet, a part of the alleged Rs 100 crore kickback generated in the case was used in the Goa Assembly election campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party. The ED's money-laundering case is based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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