The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a petition before the Kerala High Court seeking to cancel the bail granted to Santhosh Eappen, managing director, Unitac Builders, and an accused in the Life Mission corruption case.
He was granted bail by the Special Court for PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) cases in Kochi.
The ED in its petition pointed out that the special court’s order did not meet the twin conditions laid down under Section 45 of the PMLA for grant of bail. They included convincing itself of the reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence, and that he/she was not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
The special court had granted bail to Eappen, considering the argument that he was cooperating with the investigation.
The ED case is that the contract for the Wadakkanchery Life Mission project, for which the UAE Red Crescent funded ₹18.50 crore, was given to Unitac Builders. Eappen withdrew over ₹4 crore from the fund provided by Red Crescent for paying commission to those involved in the project, according to the ED.
