An accused in a money laundering case, who had failed to secure bail twice under the erstwhile CrPC, has got relief from a special PMLA court after he cited the newly-enacted Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) allowed the petition of Vinod Chaturvedi, who contended that BNSS permits first-time offenders to seek bail after serving one-third of their maximum sentence.

Chaturvedi, MD of Usher Agro Limited and other group companies, was arrested in September 2020 in a money laundering probe linked to an alleged R915.65-crore bank fraud. His previous attempts to seek bail under the erstwhile Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) had been rejected by the special PMLA court and the Bombay High Court. Chaturvedi filed a fresh plea before the PMLA court saying there was a “material change of circumstances” after BNSS came into force.