The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant any concession to self-styled godman Chandraswami, who once wielded a lot of clout in the corridors of powers, on the payment of `9 crores fine imposed on him by the Enforcement Directorate for violation of foreign exchange laws. A vacation bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar directed him to deposit the first instalment of `25 lakhs within a week.
Chandraswami had moved the top court challenging the imposition of fine rounded up by the ED nearly `9 crores in 13 cases of Fera registered against him in mid nineties for receiving “donation/contribution” from the foreign sources in contravention of the law.
“You have to deposit more than `8 crores (as penalty)... tell us, whether you would deposit it or not,” the bench asked his counsel during the hearing.
Sensing the tough mood of the court, Chandraswami’s counsel assured that his client would deposit the amount but pleaded that it would not be possible for him to pay the entire amount at once.
In fact, the direction to pay the first instalment of `25 lakhs was issued by the top court after the submission by Chandraswami’s lawyer that asking him to pay the entire amount of `9 crores in one go would cause him “financial hardship”.