ED Took No Steps Against Co-Accused: Rajasthan High Court Grants Second Bail in Money-Laundering Case After Nine Months

The High Court rejected the petitioner's first bail application on 30 June 2026, and the Supreme Court dismissed his special leave petition on 15 September 2026 (para 1). His counsel now pointed to about nine months in custody with no trial, his cooperation since the 2023 complaint, and a trial court order of 3 October 2026 refusing the Enforcement Directorate non-bailable warrants against co-accused who had been neither arrested nor questioned (paras 2-3). The Enforcement Directorate replied that the investigation stayed incomplete until those co-accused were questioned, that nothing had changed since the first refusal, and that an FIR had been registered against him in September 2026 over alleged possession of a mobile phone in jail (paras 7-8).

The Court noted that the investigation, begun in 2023 by a State agency and then taken over by the central agency, had stalled against the co-accused. The trial court's order of 3 October 2026 refused non-bailable warrants after noting a lack of serious interest, and no steps had been taken to question or arrest those said to have conspired with the petitioner (para 10). The petitioner, by contrast, had appeared and cooperated. After his first bail was refused, the investigation against him was completed with the filing of a supplementary complaint, on which the Enforcement Directorate itself relied (para 11). Pending investigation against the co-accused could therefore not be read against him (para 12). Applying the settled rule that bail is the rule and jail the exception, the Court weighed about nine months in custody, a trial not yet begun, documents already collected and no recovery to be made, and held that liberty cannot be curtailed for an indefinite period (para 12). The jail FIR, it said, is not conclusive evidence of any event and is still under investigation (para 13). The order does not discuss the twin conditions of Section 45 of the PMLA.