Supreme Court Grants Bail To Man Who Impersonated As Prime Minister Modi's Close Aid

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Mohammad Kashif in a money laundering case wherein he impersonated as a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers to extort money from people.

Allegedly, Kashif extorted money by impersonating himself as a person close to Prime Minister and other Ministers of Government of India by unauthorizedly posting morphed/edited photos with the Prime Minister and other Ministers of Government of India on his social media accounts being Facebook and Instagram.

Scrutiny had further revealed that by influence gained on people by impersonating closeness to Ministers, he had got work contracts from Government of Rajasthan and other departments.

Examination of Kashif's social media accounts revealed that he had posted photos with the Prime Minister of India and other Ministers of Government of India. He also posted an invitation card in his name for the Oath Taking Ceremony of Prime Minister of India for 30.05.2019, invitation card in his name for lunch with the Prime Minister of India on 20.02.2019 and other such documents. All the said photographs appeared to be morphed/edited.

He was arrayed as accused in ECIR/STF/03/2023 registered by Enforcement Directorate, New Delhi for the offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002.

Supreme Court's bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh set aside the order of the Allahabad high Court denying bail to Kashif on the ground that he had been under incarceration for three years, and also for the reason that the amount involved is only 1.1 crore. "The Trial Court may impose an additional condition that the appellant shall not use the name of high dignitaries, and shall cooperate with the trial. If the appellant is not cooperating with the trial, liberty is given to the respondent to move the Trial Court for cancellation of bail," it added.

High Court had denied bail to Kashif in 2024 while noting that he had been impersonating and thus misrepresenting his status and extorting money from people for getting their work done through Government Agencies for personal financial gains.

"His Facebook Account and Instagram Account revealed posting of the said photographs along with the other documents (invitation card in his name of Oath Taking Ceremony of the Prime Minister of India, invitation card in his name for lunch with the Prime Minister of India etc.) just for persons to believe that he was a person well known to them and thus was successful in extorting them. The recovery of huge amount of money and other related documents and articles corroborate his deeds. The trial in the matter has started in which evidence of one prosecution witness (Sharmila Dalmia/P.W.-1) has been recorded. There is nothing credible to overcome the twin conditions of Section 45 of PMLA, 2002," high court had noted.

Case Title: MOHAMMAD KASHIF vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

Bench: Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh

Order Date: May 18, 2026