Justice Sunil Gaur on Wednesday was appointed the chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering Act, days after he rejected Congress leader P Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail plea, News18 reported.

Gaur, who retired on August 23, had said that Chidambaram’s case was a “classic case of money laundering” and called him the “kingpin or key conspirator” in the INX Media case.

The former Delhi High Court judge had also said that granting bail to Chidambaram would convey a wrong message to the society. The former finance minister was accused of facilitating Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to INX Media under the United Progress Alliance government in 2007.

Gaur also heard another high-profile case involving Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri, who is an accused in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland helicopter scam. His anticipatory bail application was also dismissed.

In the National Herald case, Gaur had ordered clearing the decks to prosecute Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, according to PTI. He had also delivered a judgment last year, ordering Associated Journals Limited, the publisher of Congress mouthpiece National Herald, to empty its New Delhi office. The order was, in April this year, put on hold by the Supreme Court

Gaur was elevated to the High Court in April 2008. He had also handled some other corruption cases, including the money laundering case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

The former Delhi High Court judge started his career at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1984 and joined the Delhi Higher Judicial Service in 1995, NDTV reported.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.