Court Denies Bail to Congress MLA in 360 Crore Real Estate Scam

A district court in Gurugram rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating him for alleged money laundering tied to Mahira Homes, which is accused of collecting Rs 360 crore from home buyers and failing to deliver promised housing units.

A district court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker who is an accused in an Enforcement Directorate probe into a money laundering case, police said.

While opposing the anticipatory bail on Monday, the prosecution argued that Chhoker needed to be interrogated to identify others involved in this case.

Earlier too, documents were sought by the ED but the probe agency said he did not cooperate.

According to police, Chhoker's company Mahira Homes is alleged to have collected about Rs 360 crore from 1,497 home buyers under the affordable housing scheme on the promise of providing dwelling units in Sector 68 of Gurugram near Delhi, but the construction could not be completed within the stipulated time. It is alleged that a fake bank guarantee was used to get the license for the housing project. The money taken from investors was also allegedly used for personal purposes.

During the hearing on Monday, the MLA's counsel said that no department had cancelled the license taken against the bank guarantee.

Sessions Judge Subhash Mahala accepted that the license was cancelled by the department of town and country planning in 2022. After hearing both sides, the court cancelled the bail plea of Chhoker, an MLA from the Samalkha assembly seat in Haryana's Panipat district.

On July 25 last year, the ED raided multiple premises linked to Chhoker and his family as part of a money laundering probe against them linked to the alleged real estate fraud. Raids were conducted at their premises in Panipat, Gurugram and Hisar.

The case against Chhoker was registered by the ED in 2021.