'If verdict out abroad but trial on in India, case must be heard at length'

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court observed that a case in which the judgment was rendered by a foreign court, and was also sub judice in India, must be heard at length. The court of Additional Sessions Judge Sumit Dass made the observation on May 5 while hearing the submissions of Shravan Gupta , an accused in a money laundering case .

Gupta was convicted by a court in Abu Dhabi last year for the same offences as charged by the Enforcement Directorate - fraud, deception, and embezzlement . Gupta and six others, including a private company, filed a revision petition against a magisterial court order of November 2024 in which the court issued them and others summons for the offences of fraud and cheating.

Meanwhile, the court stayed proceedings in the matter until July 4, the next hearing date. The court also issued notice to the ED and the state to file a reply in the matter.

The case is related to a complaint filed by Emaar India Limited against MGF Development Limited, Gupta and 11 others for large-scale fraud and siphoning of Rs 180 crore.

In April, Gupta moved an application before the court, submitting that on February 27, 2024, a court in Abu Dhabi had convicted of the same offences as in the present case. "Passing of the said judgment was concealed by the complainant from this court as well as from the trial court," the plea stated.

Gupta pleaded that he cannot be prosecuted again, and the impugned order deserves to be set aside. The entire prosecution is bad in law in view of Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India as well as Section 300 CrPC , Gupta stated.