New Delhi [New Delhi], June 18 (ANI): Delhi's Dwarka court on Thursday remanded Former Group MD of Reliance Anil Ambani Group (RAAG)'s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. Sateesh Seth to 14 days judicial custody till July 2 after ED's interrogation.
He has been arrested in an alleged money laundering case based on allegations of siphoning of funds abroad through Hawala Channels by creating fictitious bills against overrated diamond imports.
Vacation Judge Rashmi Gupta remanded Sateesh Seth in judicial custody after considering the ED's application seeking 14 days of judicial custody.
The court allowed Seth to take spectacles in judicial custody and medicines as per the doctor's prescription. The court asked the jail authorities to make a decision on providing the bedding as per the jail manual.
He was produced before the vacation judge on Thursday, produced before the court one day prior to the expiry of his 6-day custody.
The ED alleged that an investigation under PMLA identified RIL as the primary beneficiary of a large-scale financial fraud involving systematic siphoning of public funds from two road construction projects awarded by NHAI, Namely The Jaipur-Reengus Toll Road and Trichi-Karur Toll Road.
It is alleged that Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. (RIL) was one of the corporate entities utilised as a shell entity to siphon funds abroad. RIL siphoned Rs. 92 crores abroad, the ED alleged.
On June 14, Former Group MD of Reliance Anil Ambani Group (RAAG) Sateesh Seth was remanded in 6 days ED custody by Delhi's Dwarka Court.
The court had said that Custodial interrogation is required to identify the beneficiaries of proceeds of crime and to unearth the entire trail of money. The remand order was passed after midnight.
The ED has registered an ECIR on the basis of the FIR lodged by the Mumbai Police in February 2026.
Earlier, the granted the court had opined, " Keeping in view the nature of allegations levelled against the accused/ arrestee and role played by him in commission of alleged offence, there is a need for remanding him to ED custody for the purposes of investigation."
"Hence, accused Sateesh Seth is being remanded to the custody of ED for a period of 06 days till 19.06.2026 for the purposes of his detailed and sustained interrogation and shall be produced before the Vacation Judge at 11:00 AM on that day," the vacation Judge had ordered.
ED produced the Accused on the night of June 13 at the residence of the vacation judge of Dwarka court. His remand order was passed after a long hearing of around three hours.
The ED has registered a case in relation to an FIR of 11.02.2026 under sections 409, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120B IPC by DB Marg Police Station, Greater Mumbai city, Maharashtra.
As per the FIR, several shell companies such as M/s Geet Exim Pvt. Ltd. (Geet Exim/GEPL), Vibha Impex Pvt. Ltd. (Vibha Impex/ VIPL), Pahal Impex Pvt. Ltd. (Pahal Impex/PIPL) etc were found to be involved in siphoning funds abroad through Hawala by creating fictitious bills against over-valued diamond imports.
These entities were allegedly used by corporations involved in the road construction business, which siphoned public money from Government-awarded road contracts. An estimated total of approximately Rs. 100 crores was siphoned in this manner, it is alleged.
Apart from the ED proceedings, a case under Section 37 of FEMA, read with Section 132 of the Income Tax Act as also been registered, where search proceedings were conducted.
Special Counsel for ED had argued that the seized material in the FEMA case was taken on record for the purposes of investigation, which revealed that M/s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. (RIL) was one of the corporates that utilised the network of shell entities involving GEPL, PIPL, VIPL and others to siphon funds abroad.
The ED investigation under PMLA identified RIL as the primary beneficiary of a large-scale financial fraud involving systematic siphoning of public funds from two road construction projects awarded by NHAI, namely the Jaipur-Reengus Toll Road and Trichi-Karur Toll Road.
Special counsel argued that RIL diverted approx Rs. 92 Crores (Rs. 90.16 Crores after deduction of TDS) from these projects through a premeditated scheme involving fictitious sub-contracting arrangements, layered through a network of shell entities, with the ultimate objective of remitting the siphoned funds outside India.
It was further argued that RIL executed these projects through two wholly owned special purpose vehicles (SPVs) with project financing sourced from Bank loans, NHAI grants and later toll collections from the general public. The grants to the tune of more than Rs. 102.89 crores and Rs. 134.26 crores were received by the SPVs of RIL.
Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain had argued that the modus operandi involves RIL routing funds to a network of shell entities, which thereafter remitted the funds outside India under the guise of payments for import of polished and unpolished diamonds.
The ED had said that Sateesh Seth held the position of Group Managing Director, exercising overall control over key commercial and financial decisions of several group companies of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group (RAAG). Seth has been involved in decision-making processes relating to the structuring of transactions, routing of funds, and financial and managerial decisions.
Seth was an Executive Director with RIL from 2000 to 2007 and was thereafter Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2003 till 2007 and thereafter remained as a Non-Executive Vice Chairman from 2007 till November 2024.
It is alleged that in the Jaipur Project, the RIL awarded the construction contract to M/s Prakash Asphalting and Toll Highways (PATH) for 315 crores. RIL made advance payments of Rs. 39.2 crores to PATH in September 2010 under an undated amendment to the construction agreement, which was a sham agreement as its stamp papers were purchased in October 2010, weeks after the making of the payment.
It is alleged that PATH further transferred Rs. 38 crores to GEPL, which is a shell entity whose bank details were furnished to PATH by the Secretary to Sudhir Hoshing at RIL.
ED's Special Counsel had argued that no work was executed by GEPL and an amount of Rs. 38 crores was transferred to GEPL on the instruction of RIL, which was later on remitted to several foreign entities.
It is alleged by the ED that similarly in Trichy-Karur Project, the SPV of RIL engaged M/s Utility Energy Tech and Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (UEEPL), later on renamed as Reliance Utility Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (RUEPL) as EPC contractor, a company whose board and operations were controlled by the subordinate and associates of Sateesh Seth at RIL.
The ED had argued that UEEPL awarded this construction contract to KCPL, which received Rs. 50.96 crores from UEEPL. Out of this amount, Rs. 40.56 crores were transferred to PIPL without any agreement or actual work having been executed.
It was argued that the financial control of Sateesh Seth over UEEPL can be seen from the fact that funds amounting to more than Rs. 50 crores were transferred from the renamed entity RUEPL to one of the entities beneficially controlled by his family.
While seeking 13 days custody, Special Counsel had argued that custodial interrogation of Sateesh Seth was required in order to ascertain the full quantum of the proceeds of crime (POC) involved, trace the end utilisation of the same and identify the assets and properties acquired out of the POC.
It was also argued that the ultimate beneficial owners of the funds remitted to UAE-based entities are also to be identified. He argued that the custody is further required to uncover the complete role and extent of involvement of co-conspirators.
Advocate S S Boparai and Sirhaan Seth appeared for Sateesh Seth. It was argued that Seth had attended 3 summons in the connected case of FEMA in the year 2025 and had also appeared before the Investigating Officer of ED on May 4, 2026, in Delhi, the counsel Boparai said.
The counsel had submitted that, pursuant to appearing before the ED, he suffered a brain haemorrhage and was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi on the very same date and got discharged on May 6.
He was again admitted to Kokila Ben Hospital for 05 days. His medical condition is very severe, he is 70 years old, and his medical documents clearly show that he requires urgent medical supervision; therefore, he should be immediately released.
The ED has failed to show the need and necessity of his arrest or his commission of any offence.
On the need and necessity to arrest, the court had said that the profile and the role of the arrestee in committing the offence have been explained by the ED in the application. The portion of the proceeds of crime diverted abroad is yet to be traced.
Custodial interrogation is required to identify the beneficiaries of proceeds of crime and to unearth the entire trail of money. (ANI)
