GURGAON: A special PMLA court on Monday sent Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora to judicial custody in a money laundering case. Arora, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Chandigarh on May 9 in connection with an alleged ₹100 crore fake GST billing and laundering racket, had been in ED custody since his arrest.Before the hearing, Arora’s family members met him briefly on the court premises—their first meeting since his arrest.Earlier, Special Judge Narendra Sura had directed the ED to allow Arora to meet his lawyer for one hour daily between 10am and 11am, and to provide all necessary medical facilities and medicines as advised by the medical officer. The court has fixed May 16 as the next date of hearing.Arora had also moved an application seeking permission to appoint a lawyer of his choice and to sign the vakalatnama. During the hearing, ED’s Special Public Prosecutor Simon Benjamin raised no objection. The court accepted the plea and directed the investigating officer to allow Arora to sign and verify the vakalatnama and hand over related documents to his lawyer or a family member without delay.The case involves alleged fake GST bills generated through shell companies for mobile phone trading, with suspected laundering of over Rs 100 crore. ED claims that firms linked to Arora conducted suspicious transactions through bogus entities in Delhi. Raids were carried out in Delhi, Chandigarh and Gurgaon as part of the probe.
