Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday granted bail to Bineesh Kodiyeri in the money laundering case.
Bineesh, son of veteran CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, will complete a year in prison on Friday. Arrested in an alleged drug case, he has been arraigned as the fourth accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Bineesh approached the High Court in April after the trial court had rejected his bail petition in last December and February 2021. Three High Court benches had heard the arguments over the past seven months, but bail eluded him.
The latest argument in the case concluded on October 7.
Meanwhile, the trial in the black-money case has been progressing in the special trial court. The court would consider the case for further hearing on November 2.
The case
The arrests of Kochi resident Anoop Muhammed, Rijesh Raveendran of Thiruvilwamala, Thrissur, and D Anigha, a Kannada TV serial actress in August 2020 by the Narcotics Control Bureau had led the investigators to Bineesh, who was named by Anoop during interrogation. The ED registered a case based on suspected tax evasion.
Bineesh stated before the probe agency that he knew Anoop and had lent him money to open a restaurant in Bengaluru. He denied having any other role or links with Anoop's deals. However, the ED arrested Bineesh after pointing out his financial transactions. Witnesses, meanwhile, deposed that Bineesh had attended rave parties along with Anoop.
During further investigation, Anoop's debit card was confiscated during a raid on Bineesh's residence in Thiruvananthapuram. The card bore the signature of Bineesh, officials claimed.
ED has been arguing that Anoop was Bineesh's benami, and B Capital Financial Services and B Capital Forex Trading Pvt Ltd were firms that remained on paper. Bineesh was the director of these firms.
Bineesh, meanwhile, has been arguing that the deposits in his account were revenues from business and cinema. He was sent to the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara on November 14 after 14 days of ED questioning.
Anoop and Rijesh are also lodged in the same jail.
