New Delhi, Jul 13: A Delhi court on Monday rejected the bail plea of the founder-editor of a Jammu-based news outlet, arrested by the ED in May for allegedly impersonating an “influential” PMO official and cheating people of over Rs 4 crore on the pretext of getting their work done.
The court said Vijay Gupta “failed” to satisfy the twin conditions mandated under section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) while dismissing his plea.
These two conditions state that the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds that the accused is not guilty of the offence and that they are not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
Gupta, founder and editor of Young Bites, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 20 in a money laundering case based on a Delhi Police FIR.
According to the ED and the Delhi Police, Gupta posed as an official working in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to “cheat” people, including a friend from his school days and a sanitary shop owner whose Rs 14,900 payment was pending.
The FIR said Gupta undertook 26 foreign trips between 2016 and 2026, many of them coinciding with the prime minister’s overseas visits, to “create an image” that he was a “high-ranking” government official having “influence”.
He also allegedly circulated pictures of himself with senior government officials to reinforce the false image, it said.
“…this court is of the considered view that the accused used false credentials, foreign visits, photographs with public officials to impersonate himself as a senior officer of PMO to get illegal monetary advantage from victims.”
“Accused has failed to satisfy the twin conditions of Section 45 of the Act (PMLA) and no ground is made out to release the accused on regular bail,” Additional Sessions Judge Dhirendra Rana of the Patiala House Court said in his order.
The judge said in his 18-page order that there was a “strong possibility” that the accused might tamper with the evidence, threaten the witnesses and commit a further offence of a similar nature if released on regular bail.
“Therefore, the application moved on behalf of the accused/applicant Vijay Gupta stands dismissed,” the order said.
Opposing his plea, the ED told the court that Gupta deposited cash of Rs 4.06 crore in his bank accounts between 2016 and 2026, and this amount was the proceeds of crime under the anti-money laundering law.
The order said Gupta “never mentioned” these cash funds in his Income Tax Returns (ITRs).
Rejecting Gupta’s plea that he should be granted bail because he was suffering from a “serious” heart ailment, the court noted he was stable in jail, although on medications.
The court also disagreed with the defence lawyer’s argument that pre-trial incarceration for his client was a punishment and a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.
The order said the jail period was not a “significant factor” as Gupta was arrested on May 20 and a complaint (chargesheet) is yet to be filed by the department (ED).
