Yes Bank chief Rana Kapoor gets bail in PMLA case

livemint.com:

Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor in a money-laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities at the bank. He, however, would not walk out of jail at present as he has not been granted bail in a related case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Kapoor, 65, former MD and CEO of the private bank, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in March 2020.

Special judge for PMLA court MG Deshpande granted Kapoor bail on Thursday. The trial in the case cannot begin and conclude given the expectations and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court (in a different case), therefore he was entitled to relief under section 436-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure and deserves to be released on bail, the judge said. As per section 436A, an under-trial prisoner has the right to seek bail on serving more than half of the maximum possible sentence prescribed for the offence he or she is accused of.

Kapoor, on his part, never initiated any proceeding to protract the trial nor did he restrict the ED's proceedings before this court. The ED too did not contend that bail applications filed by Kapoor are causing delay in the investigation, the court said. In the bail application filed through advocates Rahul Agarwal and Jasmine Purani, Kapoor said he was in prison for more than three-and-half years, half the period of the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence under the PMLA.