Why A Delhi Judge Held A 3 AM Court Hearing At Her Residence To Remand Accused To ED Custody

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Shefali Barnala Tandon (Patiala House Court) was convened at her residence around 3 AM on Friday to remand Swaraj Singh Yadav, an accused in a money-laundering case,

to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).Yadav, promoter of Ocean Seven Buildtech Pvt Ltd, is accused of illegally selling PM Awas Yojana flats in Gurgaon through all-cash transactions. According to the Enforcement Directorate, he was arrested for his alleged role in the laundering and diversion of funds collected from homebuyers across multiple projects.While producing the accused before the judge "at this odd hour," the ED submitted that the search for Yadav began at 6:55 AM, and under Supreme Court and various High Court guidelines, he must be produced before a court within 24 hours of the start of the search.When the proceedings began at 3:05 AM, the accused's legal counsel was still en route. Arguments from both sides continued until 6:30 AM, after which the judge remanded Yadav to ED custody until November 28, directing that he be produced before the court at 2 PM that day without fail.

What is the case about?

The financial probe agency arrested Swaraj Singh Yadav on November 13 following search operations at nine locations in Delhi-NCR and other places under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an ongoing investigation involving OSBPL and its associated persons. During the search operations, the ED recovered Rs 86 lakh in cash, suspected to be linked to the Proceeds of Crime (POC), along with various incriminating documents and digital evidence relevant to the investigation.Investigation indicates that Swaraj Singh Yadav has fraudulently diverted and laundered funds collected from homebuyers under PMAY projects through the cancellation and resale of units at inflated prices, the collection of substantial cash premiums, and the diversion of Escrow proceeds into shell entities.During searches conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA, the ED stated that cash amounting to Rs 86 lakh, which was in the custody of his relative and derived from the sale of land in Rajasthan by Swaraj Singh, was recovered. This recovery established his active possession and concealment of the Proceeds of Crime.An ED investigation has further revealed a pattern of accelerated liquidation of personal and company-held assets by Swaraj Singh across Gurgaon, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan in recent years, to convert illicit gains into a form that can be easily disposed of. "His wife and children have relocated to the USA, and such accelerated sales indicate a clear attempt to dissipate assets and evade legal action."ED further said "a modus operandi used to generate POC by cancelling allotments of flats under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) under false pretexts and reselling the same units at higher prices without refunding earlier payments, thereby collecting dual proceeds." He also controlled the cash-based premium collection, in addition to the money received through banking channels, in such resales, stated the ED.(With agency inputs)