NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred a money laundering case linked to the alleged cheating of homebuyers involving real estate businessman Amit Katyal from a special PMLA court in Gurgaon to a special PMLA court in Delhi.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order on Katyal’s plea seeking transfer of the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), news agency PTI reported.“We direct the PMLA proceedings pending before the Special Judge, PMLA, Gurgaon, Haryana, to be transferred to the Special Judge, PMLA, Saket Court Complex, Delhi. The prosecution shall proceed at such transferee court from the stage at which it is presently pending at Gurgaon,” the bench said.“In the present case, part of the offence under section 4 of the PMLA had occurred by way of concealment of proceeds of crime attached at Delhi. This gives simultaneous jurisdiction to the PMLA courts at Delhi and Gurgaon to try such an offence,” the bench added.The bench further clarified, “Uncontroverted allegations in the prosecution complaint clearly disclose that the homebuyers were duped and the proceeds of crime were acquired at Gurgaon, where the project was situated.”“Vast tracts of land at Gurgaon constituting proceeds of crime have been attached. Given this situation, the institution of PMLA prosecution at Gurgaon cannot be faulted,” the bench observed.On November 19 last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Katyal, who is considered close to RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad’s family, in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged cheating of homebuyers in Gurgaon.Katyal had also been arrested by the ED in 2023 in a separate money laundering case linked to the alleged railways land-for-jobs scam involving Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and other family members.He was later granted bail in that case, PTI reported.The present investigation relates to allegations of non-delivery of flats in Krrish Florence Estate, a 14-acre housing project in Gurgaon’s Sector 70 developed by Katyal’s company, Angle Infrastructure Private Limited.According to the ED, Katyal fraudulently obtained the project licence from another developer and began collecting money from prospective homebuyers even before receiving approval from Haryana’s Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP).This shortly resulted in the generation of alleged proceeds of crime worth Rs 300 crore, PTI reported.The agency’s investigation further found that Katyal allegedly made several fraudulent bookings in the project through third parties and diverted funds meant for a housing scheme for central government employees, leading to the project’s suspension.The ED has also accused Katyal of alienating around two acres of licensed land, valued at Rs 130 crore, to third parties at undervalued rates during insolvency proceedings, describing it as a “clear abuse of the process of law under the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code)”.The agency has further alleged that substantial loans obtained from a public sector bank were diverted through fraudulent transactions, causing a loss of nearly Rs 80 crore to the lender.In August 2025, the ED filed a chargesheet against Katyal in a separate case, alleging that he cheated homebuyers of Rs 500 crore through Krrish Realtech, where he is a promoter.(With agency inputs)
