New Delhi: In a relief to 'lottery king' Santiago Martin, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings before a special court in a money laundering case against him.
Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi and advocate Rohini Musa, represented Martin, before a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. The counsel contended before the bench that it should have been considered by the special court that the trial in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case can commence only after the conclusion of the trial in the predicate case.
After hearing submissions by the counsel, the apex court issued notice on a plea by Martin. The special court, on March 16, junked Martin’s application seeking to keep in abeyance the trial in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case till the conclusion of the trial in the predicate offence, a CBI case related to an alleged lottery scam.
Martin’s plea, referring to the verdict in the Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary case (2022), contended that proceedings under the PMLA cannot be continued once there is an acquittal or discharge in the predicate case.
It has been alleged that Martin was involved in a lottery scam, which is reportedly linked to the sale of lottery tickets of the Sikkim government in Kerala. Reportedly, he has been charged with causing an approximate loss of over Rs 900 crores to the Sikkim government.
