04 September,2026 04:59 PM IST | Mohali (Punjab) | mid-day online correspondent
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a PMLA case against the two men in October 2019. Representational Pic/File
A court in Punjab's Mohali has convicted an 80-year-old retired Indian Air Force (IAF) official and his 77-year-old associate in a money laundering case linked to the alleged possession of cocaine in 2008, reported the PTI.
Special Judge Hardip Singh, hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sentenced both men to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each. The order was pronounced on September 3.
The case dates back to August 2008, when the SAS Nagar (Mohali) police booked Dara Singh and Gurdarshan Singh for allegedly possessing 1.23 kg of cocaine, valued at around Rs 50 lakh at the time.
Dara Singh had served in the IAF for 29 years and retired as a Junior Warrant Officer (JWO).
During the investigation, police also seized two bank cheques issued by Dara Singh to Gurdarshan Singh. The cheques had a combined value of Rs 10 lakh and, according to the prosecution, were given to purchase the drugs, according to the PTI.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a PMLA case against the two men in October 2019.
The agency filed its chargesheet in October 2022 and treated the drugs and the two cheques as proceeds of crime under the money laundering law.
The defence argued that the seized drugs and cheques could not be treated as proceeds of crime because there was no evidence of drug money being exchanged or earned in the underlying police case, as per the PTI.
The court rejected the defence's argument and held that the cheques, which arose from dealings between the two accused in the case, were to be considered proceeds of crime.
The court concluded that both men had committed an offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which is punishable under Section 4 of the law, the news agency reported.
The court accordingly convicted both accused under Section 4 of the PMLA.
The court noted that the two men had been facing proceedings for around 13 years while remaining on bail in the original police case.
It directed that the period they had already spent in detention would be set off against their substantive prison sentence.
During the hearing on the sentence, both convicts sought a lenient view from the court.
They told the court that they were the sole breadwinners of their respective families and suffered from various health problems. They also continued to maintain that they were innocent and that the original police case had been falsely registered against them, reported the PTI.
Court records accessed by PTI show that a trial court had convicted the two men in the original police case in March 2015.
Dara Singh, who was later re-employed by the Punjab Technical Education Board and worked there for nine years, challenged his conviction before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The High Court suspended his sentence, and his appeal remains pending.
(with PTI inputs)
