SC asks ED to release Preeti Chandra’s passport for the sole purpose of relinquishing Dominican Republic citizenship

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to release the Dominican Republic passport of Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra’s wife Preeti Chandra which was earlier seized by the anti-money laundering agency during the investigation.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra, directed the return of passport pursuant to her undertaking that she will submit it to the authorities for renouncing the citizenship of Dominica and for no other purpose.

Senior advocate Siddharth Aggarwal apprised the bench that Preeti Chandra has applied for grant of Indian citizenship and has also placed an advertisement in newspaper seeking to relinquish her citizenship of the Caribbean nation.

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for Centre, stated that he has no objection to the return of the passport in view of her undertaking.

On August 4, the Supreme Court affirmed the bail granted to Preeti Chandra by the Delhi High Court after noting that she has already undergone over 620 days in custody. It had directed her to unconditionally undertake to relinquish her Dominican citizenship and to apply for Indian citizenship.

In addition to the terms and conditions which have been imposed by the High Court, the top directed that Preeti Chandra will not leave the limits of the NCR region. It added that she will report once every two weeks to the Investigating Officer and will not dispose of any property without specific permission of the special court.

–IANS