New Delhi [India], August 1 (ANI): A Delhi court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conclude its investigation in the scheduled offence linked to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money laundering case against alleged meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi and other accused within two months, observing that the investigation has already “suffered delay”.
Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne passed the direction after the CBI sought three to four months to complete the probe, citing the voluminous nature of documents and digital records collected during the investigation. The agency also informed the court that proceedings on a limited issue concerning one of the accused, Satish Babu Sana, are pending before the Delhi High Court.
Rejecting the longer timeline sought by the agency, the court directed the CBI to complete the investigation against all accused persons, except Satish Babu Sana, within two months. It further directed that the investigation against Sana should also be concluded, to the extent possible, within the same period. The court ordered the CBI to file a status report on the progress of the investigation by August 29.
The order records that the investigating officer, represented by the CBI’s DIG through video conferencing, submitted that the large volume of documentary and digital evidence required additional time for arriving at appropriate conclusions regarding the accused persons. However, the court noted that the investigation had already been delayed before fixing the two-month deadline.
Apart from the CBI’s submissions, the court also dealt with several procedural issues in the ED prosecution.
The court noted that accused Dharminder Singh Anand (A-6) remained absent and that an application seeking reissuance of an open-ended non-bailable warrant against him is pending. It granted time to the ED to clarify the application in terms of the court’s earlier observations made on March 30, 2026.
The judge further recorded that previous order sheets since July 15, 2025 had inadvertently shown Anand’s presence, whereas he had in fact remained absent. The court directed that he be treated as absent on those dates.
During the proceedings, counsel appearing for accused numbers 2 to 5 informed the court that they would file an application under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure within a week, contending that certain documents supplied by the prosecution were deficient. An application seeking supply of deficient documents had already been moved on behalf of Moin Akhtar Qureshi (A-1), and the court directed the ED to file its reply.
The court also recorded that scrutiny of documents had been completed on behalf of accused company South Delhi Money Changer Pvt Ltd. (A-8), while accused Satish Babu Sana (A-9) sought additional time to scrutinise the documents. The court directed that any application seeking deficient copies be filed within one week.
The matter has been listed for further proceedings on August 29, 2026, when the CBI is expected to place its status report on record. (ANI)
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