A day after the Supreme Court declined to grant bail to Sharjeel Imam, a separate bench of the apex court on Tuesday allowed bail to Arvind Dham, the former chairman of the Amtek Group, in connection with a money laundering case arising out of an alleged ₹33,000 crore bank fraud. The court’s decision highlighted the principle that extended pre-trial detention, without meaningful progress in proceedings, cannot be justified.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe, observed that keeping an undertrial in custody for an unduly long period effectively transforms pre-trial detention into a form of punishment. The judges noted that Dham had already spent close to 17 months in jail for an offence that carries a maximum possible sentence of seven years, stressing that such prolonged incarceration is inconsistent with the principles of criminal justice.
The bench underscored that “pre-trial jail cannot become punishment,” adding that an extended period of imprisonment is, in itself, a valid ground for granting bail, particularly in cases where there is little likelihood of the trial commencing in the near future. In doing so, the Supreme Court set aside the August 19, 2025 order of the Delhi High Court, which had earlier refused Dham’s bail plea.
In its detailed observations, the Supreme Court stated that prolonged detention of an undertrial, without the start of trial or any reasonable advancement in proceedings, cannot be countenanced, as it undermines the very purpose of pre-trial custody. The bench further clarified that economic offences cannot be treated as a single, uniform category that automatically warrants denial of bail, since such cases vary widely in nature, scale, and factual circumstances.
The court took note of the fact that Dham was arrested in 2024 and that the evidence in the case is largely documentary in nature, with most of it already in the possession of the prosecution. In such circumstances, the bench said, continued incarceration violates the accused’s fundamental right to a speedy trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Justice Alok Aradhe, who authored the judgment, emphasized that the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 is not overridden merely because the allegations involve serious economic offences. The bench also recorded that Dham had cooperated with the investigation even before his formal arrest, having joined the probe on June 19, July 2, and July 9, 2024.
The judges noted that among 28 individuals named in the case, only Dham had been arrested so far. They also referred to an order dated August 20, 2025 passed by the Special Court, which recorded the submission of the Enforcement Directorate that the investigation with respect to Dham had already been completed.
The bench further pointed out that no cognisance had yet been taken on the prosecution complaint and that the matter was still at the stage of scrutiny of documents. Given that as many as 210 witnesses are proposed to be examined, the court observed that there was no realistic possibility of the trial beginning in the foreseeable future.
While granting bail, the Supreme Court imposed specific conditions on Dham. These include surrendering his passport to the trial court, refraining from leaving India without prior permission, and providing a mobile phone number through which the Enforcement Directorate can contact him to verify his whereabouts.
The court also clarified that while deciding bail applications, courts must evaluate the gravity of the offence on a case-by-case basis. It cautioned against grouping all economic offences together, noting that they can involve a wide range of activities and differ significantly from one matter to another. The bench added that statutory restrictions under laws such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act cannot be interpreted in a manner that leads to indefinite pre-trial detention in violation of Article 21.
In the present case, FIRs were registered on December 21, 2022 at the instance of IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra, alleging offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Based on these FIRs, the Enforcement Directorate registered two ECIRs on March 21, 2023, accusing the accused of laundering the proceeds of crime. Dham was arrested on July 9, 2024 and subsequently chargesheeted in September 2024.
Arvind Dham is a former promoter and non-executive chairman of Amtek Auto Ltd and also served as a non-executive director of ACIL Ltd, both of which are part of the broader Amtek Group.
