Just over a week after rejecting former finance minister P Chidambaram’s plea for anticipatory bail, now-retired Justice Sunil Gaur has been appointed as the chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (ATPMLA), according to News18.

#NewsAlert – Judge Sunil Gaur of the Delhi High Court who rejected P Chidambaram’s bail has been appointed as the chairperson of the PMLA Appellate Tribunal. | Input: @utkarsh_aanand. pic.twitter.com/cWacuPO4Xv

— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 28, 2019

A former Delhi High Court judge, Gaur passed his last order on August 20, dismissing Chidambaram’s plea for interim protection from arrest in the INX Media case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He retired on August 23, at the age of 62.

Now, Gaur is set to take over from current ATPMLA chairperson Justice Manmohan Singh on September 23, a day after the latter retires.

When passing the order that paved the way for Chidambaram’s arrest, Gaur had labelled the senior Congress leader as the “kingpin” in the money laundering case. He had earlier also passed an order allowing a course of action to prosecute top Congress leaders, including Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, in the National Herald case.

Gaur was elevated to the Delhi High Court on April 2008 and designated a permanent judge four years later, on April 2012. He has presided over a number of high-profile cases, including the money laundering case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi last year and the AgustaWestland helicopter scam implicating Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s nephew, Ratul Puri, earlier this year.

Before moving to the high court, he handled civil and criminal cases in the Delhi Higher Judicial Service and served as judge-in-charge of the Delhi Mediation Centre, Tis Hazari Courts and Karkardooma Courts in Delhi.

First Published:Aug 28, 2019 4:27 PM IST