Supreme Court asks ED to trace and secure absconding accused of Mahadev betting app

The Supreme Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate to trace and secure the co-founder of Mahadev betting app who had fled from Dubai to an undisclosed location, saying those accused of white-collar crime cannot be allowed to be treated as “tools to play” by courts and investigating agencies.

A bench of Justices MM Sundaresh and Satish Chandra Sharma took serious note of accused Ravi Uppal’s escape from law enforcement agencies and said, “It shocks our conscience and the court has to do something about it.” Uppal, who is evading law enforcement agencies in India, has reportedly fled from Dubai, where he was under surveillance, to an undisclosed location forcing UAE authorities to step in to call off his extradition proceedings.

“For gangsters like him, courts and investigating agencies are mere play instruments. We have to do something about it,” the bench said while asking the ED to trace him and secure him.

“We will reject his plea. Find out how to keep him safe. It seems he is quite resourceful in flying from one place to another,” the court said on Tuesday (November 4).

The top court was hearing Uppal’s plea challenging the March 22 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court directing him to attend the hearing of the money laundering case pending in the trial court in Raipur.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, informed the court that Uppal appeared to have fled from Dubai, where he was detained in 2023.

Raju said accused involved in financial crimes try to flee to places where there is no extradition treaty with India, like the country has with the United Arab Emirates.

“You can be extradited from the UAE because India has an extradition treaty with them. So, he might have gone to places like the British Virgin Islands because India has no extradition treaty with that country,” he said.

After his lawyer sought time, the bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 14 and asked the lawyer to convince Uppal to return to India and face the proceedings.

Justice Sundaresh said, “He cannot keep running away all the time. He has to participate in the process. We are liberal in granting bail. We will consider his bail plea at the appropriate stage.” The bench asked Raju to examine whether the recent judgment of the apex court, which allows investigating agencies to call lawyers representing the accused in exceptional circumstances, can be used to obtain details of those who are on the run from the law.

The top court told Uppal’s lawyer that no further adjournment would be given in the case.

Uppal was detained in Dubai in December 2023 due to an Interpol red notice and the ED, which is probing the Mahadev betting app case, had initiated extradition proceedings in 2024 by writing to the UAE authorities.

UAE authorities later released Uppal but kept him under surveillance.

According to the agencies, Uppal, along with his associate Saurabh Chandrakar, founded the Mahadev betting app in 2018, which allowed multiple platforms and apps to place illegal bets on online games.

Investigating agencies have claimed that this scam is big 6,000 crore and spread across various states across the country.

His associate Chandrakar was arrested in Dubai in October 2024, and the extradition request against him is also still pending.

The preliminary investigation by Chhattisgarh Police named former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as an accused, and the investigation was transferred to the CBI for further investigation.