Illegal forex trading case | Detention illegal, accused produced 24 hours after physical custody: Court

The EOW sought to interrogate Pandey on the ground that he had allegedly earned a commission of Rs 18-20 crore, for helping co-accused, Prasenjit Das, to open 200 bank accounts.

The allegations against the accused in the case are that they used various dummy entities to defraud the public under the guise of making investments in forex trading.

Pandey’s lawyers argued that he was taken in physical custody from Kolkata on June 28 and produced in the Mumbai court only on June 30, which was beyond the permissible time of 24 hours.

He argued that the detention was therefore illegal. The EOW opposed this contention, stating that he was arrested on June 30 and the travel time required to bring him from Kolkata to Mumbai was excluded.

The court observed that even though the EOW was claiming that the arrest had taken place when he was brought to Mumbai, a previous Bombay High Court order had clarified that from the time the accused is taken in physical custody, the time of arrest is counted.

The court said that the EOW investigator had not moved any plea for transit remand to bring Pandey to Mumbai.

“Accused is produced beyond 24 hours before this court from actually taking into custody. Thus, in my view, the accused is illegally arrested and produced beyond 24 hours. Hence, he cannot be further detained either in police custody,” the court said in its order on June 30.

The court then granted Pandey bail in this case and he was sent to Kolkata, where he remains in judicial custody.