The Bombay High Court on May 6 granted two months of interim medical bail to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in a money laundering case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Goyal is currently hospitalised at HN Reliance private hospital for treatment of cancer and has been ordered to pay Rs 1 lakh with for his release by a single-judge bench of Justice NJ Jamadar.
‘Let him be with his wife for whatever months may be’: Naresh Goyal’s counsel seeks his bail on medical grounds.
“The applicant (Goyal) shall be released on interim bail for a period of two months. He shall abide by all conditions imposed,” the bench said.
The high court also directed Goyal to surrender his passport.
Goyal (75) had sought the interim bail on medical and humanitarian grounds as both he and his wife Anita Goyal are suffering from cancer.
A special court in February refused bail to Goyal but permitted him to be admitted in a private hospital of his choice and seek medical treatment.
Goyal then moved the HC, seeking bail on merits and to be released on interim bail on medical grounds.
Goyal’s counsel Harish Salve had urged the court to consider the case on humanitarian grounds.
However, ED’s counsel Hiten Venegaonkar opposed the bail and said the agency did not have any problem if Goyal’s hospitalisation was extended.
Venegaonkar had submitted that the court may extend Goyal’s hospitalisation for a period of four weeks and then call for a fresh medical report to assess his situation.
But Salve said that apart from deteriorating physical health, Goyal’s mental health was also not good.
Goyal was arrested by the ED in September 2023 on allegations that he had laundered money and siphoned off loans to the tune of Rs 538. 62 crore given to Jet Airways by the Canara Bank.
( with inputs from PTI)
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