13 August,2011 06:41 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Alleged money launderer and tax evader Hasan Ali Khan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on a surety of Rs 5,00,000 yesterday.
According to the court, there was not enough evidence to establish his offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
However, the Pune-based horse trader, known for his lavish parties, cars and stud farms, collapsed in the courtroom during the hearing of his bail plea.
A doctor had to be called inside the courtroom to attend to him.
Khan's lawyer, IP Bagadia, said, "Khan has been granted bail by Bombay High Court Justice Abhay Thipse against a surety of Rs 5,00,000."
He added, "Khan was asked to deposit his passport and not to leave Mumbai or Pune without a written permission from the Enforcement Directorate."
As per the court, no material evidence had been presented by the ED to show that any scheduled offence has been committed by Khan, who was arrested in March earlier this year on charges of tax evasion.
The 53-year-old businessman has been accused of hoarding black money to the tune of $8 billion in foreign accounts and forging documents to acquire multiple passports.
The Income-Tax department had ordered him to pay a penalty of Rs 70,000 crore for tax evasion.
Son of a Hyderabad-based excise officer, Khan was a scrap dealer with an annual income of Rs 30 lakh. He has a Swiss bank account with $8 billion in deposits.
Back in 1991 in the Andhra capital, Khan entered the world of horse racing with just two horses. Soon after, he moved to Mumbai and then expanded his base to Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.u00a0
He has been declared the country's highest tax defaulter with dues allegedly over Rs 70,000 crore.
