PK Halder, also known as Shiv Shankar Halder, the main accused in embezzling and laundering money from Bangladesh, has been released on bail from a prison in West Bengal, India.
On Tuesday evening, he was released from the Presidency Correctional Home in Alipore, Kolkata.
Earlier, on Friday, a special CBI court in Kolkata granted him conditional bail against a personal bond of 1 million rupees.
On Monday, the bond was submitted to the court, and a copy was sent to the Presidency Correctional Home.
Following this, he was released on Tuesday evening.
The court explained the conditions under which PK Halder and his associates were granted bail.
They are required to appear in court on all designated dates assigned for the trial.
During the bail period, they must not commit any crimes or attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses in any manner.
If they have not already surrendered their passports, they must do so to the court.
They are also required to provide their contact information, including addresses and phone numbers, to the court.
Additionally, the court explicitly mentioned that PK Halder and his associates cannot leave India without the court’s permission or until the case is resolved.
Observers' Concerns
Observers have raised questions about how India might respond if Bangladesh requests PK Halder’s extradition under the bilateral extradition agreement.
This remains unclear.
Reasons for Granting Bail
The court cited a key reason for granting bail: the Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s financial crime investigative agency, could not present necessary documents from Bangladesh’s courts to Kolkata’s court due to Bangladesh’s political situation.
In the bail order, the special CBI court judge noted that the complainant’s lawyer, Arijit Chakraborty, attempted to collect a certified copy of the verdict from Bangladesh’s Special Court (No 10), presided over by Judge Mohammad Nazrul Islam.
However, he could not obtain the copy.
The judge stated that Arijit Chakraborty informed the court that he had requested the verdict copy from Bangladeshi authorities under the mutual legal assistance treaty.
However, given the current political and social conditions in Bangladesh, the ED could not obtain the verdict or other necessary documents.
Based on this argument, the judge ruled that the lack of documentation from Bangladesh could not be used as grounds to deny bail.
PK Halder’s Previous Conviction
In a case filed by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on charges of amassing wealth beyond known sources and money laundering,
PK Halder was sentenced to 22 years in prison on October 8 last year.
The court also sentenced 13 of his associates to seven years each.
PK Halder’s lawyer, senior advocate Milan Mukhopadhyay from Kolkata, argued in court that the ED failed to provide any documents proving that Halder and his associates had been convicted in anti-corruption and money laundering cases in Bangladesh.
Mukhopadhyay claimed that open-source (media) information is not admissible in court, especially when the accused are first-time offenders and not officially convicted.
Although the ED’s lawyer, Arijit Chakraborty, opposed this claim, the CBI court ultimately accepted Mukhopadhyay’s arguments, stating that open-source information is not valid in court.
Consideration of Sentence Duration
The court also considered the duration of the sentence in the case. The judge observed that PK Halder had already served over one-third (2 years and 7 months) of the maximum seven-year sentence for money laundering offenses.
Highlighting this point, the judge noted that in the absence of reliable documents or evidence, the benefit of the doubt must go to the accused. This perspective contributed to the court’s decision to grant bail.
PK Halder’s Release
On Tuesday evening, as he left the Presidency Correctional Home, PK Halder joined his palms in a gesture of greeting before reporters and said, “I won’t say anything now. I will consult with my lawyer and share everything later.”
He then left the area in a white Uber vehicle without disclosing his destination.
On the same evening, one of his associates, Uttam Maitra, was also released from prison.
However, another associate, Swapan Maitra, was not released due to complications with documents and bonds.
The next hearing of this case is scheduled for January 9, 2024.
In 2022, on May 14, the ED had arrested PK Halder and six others after conducting raids in various locations across West Bengal.
