₹2,700 crore bank fraud case: Supreme Court denies interim bail to former Amtek Group chairperson Arvind Dham

In a major setback for former Amtek Group chairperson Arvind Dham, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant him interim bail in a money laundering case related to a ₹2,700 crore bank fraud.

On 7 April, a three-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna also denied bail to Dham and directed him to surrender at the jail the following morning.

“We aren’t at all impressed by the tactics of the petitioner. Your SLP (special leave petition) was dismissed by a three-judge bench of this court. Now you are trying to get in during this vacation and trying to get the same relief in a matter which has already been dismissed,” a SC bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B Varale said on Monday.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Dham, said his client had been in jail for 11 months and that his regular bail plea had been pending in the Delhi High Court since February 2025. He then withdrew the plea.

“We don’t understand the appearance of senior counsel in vacations. This court has often commented on that,” the apex court said.

The Delhi High Court had extended his interim bail on medical grounds till 7 April.

ED attaches Amtek Group's fresh assets

Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached fresh assets worth over ₹550 crore of Amtek Group firms, an insolvent automotive equipment manufacturing company, in the alleged ₹2,700 crore bank loan fraud case under the anti-money-laundering law.

Dham was arrested by the ED in July last year and was chargesheeted in September.

The ED said in a statement that action was taken against Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL Limited, Metalyst Forging Limited, Castex Technologies Limited, and Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham, among others.

In September last year, properties worth ₹5,115.31 crore were attached by the agency in the case.

The ED started its probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 27 February 2024, following the directions of the Supreme Court.