The directorate of enforcement (ED) has arrested Vatika Ltd's chairman and managing director (CMD) Anil Bhalla and group promoter Gautam Bhalla in a money laundering case linked to the alleged non-delivery of residential plots and diversion of funds received from purchasers.
The two were arrested by the ED's Gurugram Zonal Office on 28 September 2026 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The agency's investigation stems from multiple first information reports (FIRs) registered by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Delhi police against Vatika Ltd, its promoter-directors Anil Bhalla, Gautam Bhalla and Gaurav Bhalla, among others. The FIRs invoke Sections 420, 406 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, relating to alleged fraudulent inducement, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.
According to ED, seven purchaser entities paid around ₹260 crore between 2010 and 2012 as the full sale consideration for residential plots in Vatika India Next in Sectors 84 and 85, and in Vatika India Next-2 in Sector 88A, Gurugram.
Plot-specific agreements were subsequently executed in 2014 and 2015. The agency has alleged that the layouts were later revised, changing the numbers and locations of plots that had originally been allotted to purchasers. It further alleged that land forming part of the projects was subsequently allotted or sold to other buyers.
In Vatika India Next-2, ED said none of the plots covering about 110,000 square yards, acquired for around ₹90 crore, had been delivered even after nearly 14 years. Delivery in Vatika India Next was also only partial, with plots valued at about ₹140.73 crore remaining undelivered, according to the agency.
The investigation has also focused on the movement of money received from purchasers. ED said the project land was held through around 22 group companies.
According to the agency, these entities had no employees or independent business operations and were primarily used to provide corporate guarantees and to manage the group's land bank, including mortgaging the land to financial institutions.
An examination of Vatika Ltd's bank accounts allegedly showed that money received from purchasers was not confined to the projects for which it had been collected. The agency said funds were transferred to other group companies and promoter-linked entities that were not part of the projects under investigation.
ED has also alleged that Anil Bhalla personally supervised key decisions concerning the transactions being investigated. Gautam Bhalla, it said, was a key promoter who executed important agreements, held directorships in land-owning companies and exercised control over their operations.
The agency's findings indicate that major decisions relating to the transactions were taken jointly by the two, it said.
The investigation has also brought a separate 2024 transaction involving Scaler Ventures under the agency's scrutiny.
According to ED, Scaler Ventures paid ₹473.18 crore under an agreement to sell and a buy-back agreement. Of 165 plots covered by the transaction, only 15 were subsequently bought back.
The agency further alleged that 14 of the remaining 150 plots were sold to third parties for around ₹13.62 crore without Scaler Ventures' knowledge or consent.
ED has so far quantified the proceeds of crime in the case at about ₹154.36 crore.
The arrests follow searches conducted earlier by ED under Section 17 of the PMLA at seven premises.
During one of the searches, officials recovered a Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 and gold and diamond jewellery weighing more than 1.3kg, valued at around ₹1.55 crore, from the residential premises of one of the accused. Bank accounts and fixed deposits totalling about ₹3.04 crore were also frozen, according to the agency.
The arrests were followed by the production of Anil Bhalla and Gautam Bhalla before the Special Court (PMLA) in Gurugram. The court remanded them to ED custody until 3 October 2026.
The investigation is continuing, ED said.
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