• Regulatory
• 1 min read

SC issues notice to ED on Noida-based builder's bail plea in home buyers' fraud case

India's Supreme Court has served a notice to the Enforcement Directorate concerning Anil Mithas' bail plea. Mithas, a key figure behind Unnati Fortune Holdings Ltd., is currently implicated in a money laundering investigation. The Allahabad High Court denied his bail, pointing to serious accusations of diverting funds totaling Rs 126.30 crore sourced from homebuyers for an unfinished project. He was arrested in April 2025 amid these allegations.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the agency on a plea filed by Anil Mithas challenging the rejection of his bail plea by the Allahabad High Court.

The high court on September 16 had rejected the bail plea of Mithas.

"White-collar crime has grown too pervasive and too costly to be met with anything less than firm, uncompromising enforcement. Corporate fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, and large-scale financial deception routinely destroy pensions, savings, and livelihoods on a scale that dwarfs the damage caused by many street crimes, yet offenders have often faced comparatively lenient sentences, fines their companies can absorb as a cost of doing business, or plea deals that avoid real accountability," the high court had said in its order.

The high court had said that after hearing counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the fact that applicant is charged with the offence of diverting an amount of Rs.126.30 crores of various allottees, it was not a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant.

The case pertains to allegations that Mithas diverted funds collected from homebuyers by Unnati Fortune Holdings Ltd. for its Aranya project, prompting money laundering proceedings by the agency.

Mithas was taken into custody on April 16, 2025.

The money-laundering case stems from FIRs filed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government against Unnati Fortune Holdings Limited (UFHL) and its promoters for "cheating and fraud".