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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday "denied bail" to Sukesh Chandrashekhar's wife, Leena Paulose, in connection with a Rs 200 crore extortion case registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police against her. 

While denying her bail, the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said, "This court is of the considered opinion that the case is of very 'sensitive nature' and prima facie the petitioner is involved in the offence of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA)".

"This court does not find any infirmity in the order of the trial court, accordingly, the bail application is dismissed", the single-judge bench said. The court also denied bail to two co-accused namely Kamlesh Kothari and B. Mohan Raj. 

It is to be noted that the court on June 1 had "reserved order" in the bail plea. 

On behalf of Leena Paulose, Advocate Paul John Edison had submitted that she is a qualified dentist, an Indian Film Actress, paying income tax, and a resident of Delhi. He had added that “Paulose has strong roots in the society “. His primary contention was that six IPC offences alleged against Paulose are bailable and another six are non-bailable, along with Section 3 of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA) and Information Technology Act, registered against her.

The counsel had further submitted that Paulose has been charged with offences under Section 323, 384, 388, 419, 420, 506, 186, 353, 468, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, Section 66D of the Information Technology Act and Section 3 of MCOCA. "I (Paulose) am a lady in my 40s, willing to have a baby and have motherhood, I have a right to life. And my husband is the main accused in the present case", he had contended.

Furthermore, John had contended that in the present case, none of the ingredients of the MCOCA was made against Paulose, and just because her husband (Sukesh Chandrashekhar) is the main accused, that doesn’t mean she can be kept behind bars. He had added that the chargesheet had also been filed in the present case. It is to be noted that John had earlier contended, “She has been in jail for 16 months and is entitled to the right to life and motherhood”.

On the contrary, the Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) for Delhi Police had submitted that they will have to file a copy of the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet, because as per Section 21(4) of the MCOCA until the court is sure that no offence is committed, bail cannot be granted.

Notably, on December 12, 2022, a single-judge bench issued a notice to the Delhi Police and sought a reply to the plea.

According to sources, Leena Paulose is a master con woman and strategist, as well as the brains and key factor behind the schemes created to launder the proceeds of crime, which were of her husband Sukash Chandrashekar.

Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Nandita Rao appeared for the Delhi Police along with Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain.

Case Title: Leena Paulose v. State of Delhi

Statue: The Constitution of India, The Indian Penal Code, The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999, The Information Technology Act, and The Code of Criminal Procedure