Mumbai PMLA Court Rejects Sanjay Jain's Discharge Plea in Rs 1,000 Crore Case

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai has refused to accept a discharge application filed by Sanjay Jain, an accused in a 2017 money laundering case involving illegal foreign remittances exceeding Rs 1,000 crore.

The court observed that the late application was nothing more than a deliberate delay tactic aimed at stalling the legal proceedings. Jain is accused of using forged import documents, including fraudulent bills of entry and invoices, to remit massive sums of foreign exchange abroad.

During the hearing, Jain's lawyer sought permission to submit the discharge plea. However, when questioned by the court regarding the extensive delay in approaching the bench, the counsel stated that he did not possess the complete case papers and failed to provide a satisfactory explanation.

The special court highlighted that the case dates back to 2017 and pointed out that the discharge application on behalf of Jain was being introduced nine years after the Enforcement Directorate filed its chargesheet. While acknowledging that there is no fixed statutory timeframe for an accused person to submit a discharge application, the court emphasised that this does not grant an accused liberty to file pleas at their own leisure.

The court stated that boundaries are necessary to prevent cases from dragging on endlessly. It noted that if such pleas are entertained after nearly a decade, the matter would never progress toward hearing arguments and the formal framing of charges, leaving it permanently stalled at a preliminary stage.

The bench further noted that Jain was well aware of the pending discharge applications filed by other co-accused in the matter and could have moved his own application at an earlier stage. The court ruled that the conduct demonstrated a clear attempt to hold back proceedings, and formally declined to accept the discharge plea.