New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has restored more than 350 immovable properties, including flats, commercial units, and plots, worth Rs 175 crore to homebuyers in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, earning the Supreme Court’s praise for its efforts.
The restitution follows the resolution of Udaipur Entertainment World Private Limited (UEWPL), a firm embroiled in a multi-crore bank fraud case, through insolvency proceedings. A total of 213 homebuyers would benefit from the ED’s move, which clears the path for completion of the long-stalled Project Royal Rajvilas.
Udaipur Entertainment World Private Limited was resolved by the National Company Law Tribunal in 2022, in favour of resolution applicants, which included the homebuyers and the lenders.
In a statement Tuesday, an agency spokesman said the restitution, which consists of unsold inventory of 354 flats, 17 commercial units and two plots at Project Royal Rajvilas (RRV), would benefit a total of 213 homebuyers.
The development comes after the agency and the firm reached an amicable settlement. The agency said this move would clear the way for the project’s completion and they could be handed over to the buyers, who have now waited for more than a decade.
The federal probe agency launched a money laundering probe based on three cases and a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Udaipur-based chartered accountant Bharat Bomb, and nine others, including bank officials, were under the lens for allegedly causing a loss to the tune of Rs 1,267.79 crore to a consortium of banks led by Syndicate Bank.
The restitution order was passed under the provisions of Section 8 (8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which sets the terms for restitution of properties to the rightful owners.
According to the agency, the accused persons operated a racket from 2011 to 2016, their modus operandi being discounting forged cheques and inland bills, as well as drawing loans against forged insurance policies.
In view of the submissions made by Directorate of Enforcement (ED), the Hon’ble Supreme Court has passed order dated 10.10.2025 wherein the attached properties, having a present market value of about Rs. 175 Crore, now stand restituted under PMLA, 2002, to the Successful… pic.twitter.com/B7PpoUzFkI
— ED (@dir_ed) October 14, 2025
As part of the probe, the agency attached properties worth approximately Rs 535 crore, including the inventories restituted under the settlement.
Taking note of the amicable settlement between the parties in the interest of the homebuyers, the Supreme Court last week lauded the ED for its restitution efforts.
“Lastly, we place on record our appreciation for the efforts made by the learned counsel for the parties and the DoE in restoring the attached properties to secure the interests of genuine and innocent homebuyers,” a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe observed in their judgment.
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The case
The entire saga began in March 2016 when the CBI charged accused persons namely Bharat Bomb, his key associate Vipul Kaushik, Jaipur-based builder Shankar Lal Khandelwal, and others for allegedly causing the losses to the banks through collusion with bank officials.
The CBI’s chargesheet noted that the syndicate of the suspects and the bank officials opened 386 bank accounts at three branches of Syndicate Bank —two in Jaipur and one in Udaipur.
They opened these bank accounts using the identification documents of genuine account-holders from other banks. They collaborated with bank officials and employed fraudulent methods such as forged cheques, drawing loans based on fake insurance policies, and obtaining overdraft facilities, the agency alleged.
The ED took cognisance of the CBI’s case and registered a money laundering case in July 2016, and allegedly found that Bomb, Kaushik, Khandelwal and officials of the Syndicate Bank hatched a conspiracy to siphon off a considerable amount of funds from the bank.
The agency further allegedly found that Bomb recouped into several bank accounts and immovable properties in his own name or his associates’ and their family members’. Bomb remained absconding throughout the investigation.
The agency issued attachment orders for properties worth Rs 535 crore, including the flats and immovable properties at Udaipur’s Project Royal Rajvilas (RRV) in 2019.
The attachment was challenged because some homebuyers moved the NCLT for insolvency proceedings against the UEWPL, which was admitted in April 2021. In February 2022, the NCLT approved the resolution of the UEWPL and vacated the attachment proceedings initiated by the ED.
However, in July 2023, the Rajasthan High Court stayed the NCLT’s order that vacated the ED’s attachment of these properties, questioning the NCLT’s jurisdiction to set aside the order of the adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
However, the High Court vacated the judgment of the single bench in September 2024, followed by another stay of the order by the same court in March this year.
Aggrieved by the High Court judgment, the UEWPL moved the Supreme Court, contending that the innocent flat buyers are the real victims. This prompted the agency to offer a way out of the issue, providing them with relief.
In its affidavit filed before the apex court earlier last week, the agency offered to partially set aside the attachment orders, paving the way for the restitution of assets to the Successful Resolution Applicant (SRA) who acquired the attached units.
The apex court noted that the successful restitution took place for all flats except 11 that have been identified as proceeds of crime, and that after the completion of the process, the name of the UEWPL would be removed from the agency’s prosecution complaint as an accused.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)