Supreme Court Grants Bail to Businessman in High-Profiling Gambling App Case

The Supreme Court has granted bail to Chhattisgarh businessman Sunil Dammani, arrested in a money laundering case related to the Mahadev illegal gambling app. The decision came without delving into the merit of the allegations. Dammani was incarcerated since August 2023, with accusations of being a hawala operator.

The Supreme Court granted bail to Chhattisgarh businessman Sunil Dammani, arrested last August by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case involving the Mahadev illegal gambling app.

This decision, made by a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, comes without assessing the merit of the allegations against Dammani, who has been in custody since August 23, 2023. The justices overturned the Chhattisgarh High Court's denial of bail, ruling that, barring further investigatory needs, Dammani could be released with conditions.

According to the ED, Dammani is among 45 accused in the case, which includes damning allegations of hawala operations involving over Rs 5,000 crore. Despite key conspirators remaining at large, the court considered the fact that Dammani had already spent 14 months in custody and that the ED had filed its charge sheet.

(With inputs from agencies.)