Bhalla returns to Supreme Court

Ravi Bhalla, the Indian businessman who was freed from prison earlier this year, just eight days after a Prague Post cover story, has suffered a setback in efforts to clear his name as the High Court in Prague reaffirmed its own guilty verdict Nov. 18.

In late June, Bhalla had seen the Supreme Court in Brno dismiss his conviction on tax evasion charges based on a catalog of irregularities related to the investigation and prosecution of his case. After the court dismissed the case and ordered him immediately released from prison, the case returned to the High Court for another review, as is standard procedure. The result of that review was handed down Nov. 18, which saw the court reaffirm its own earlier verdict.

Bhalla referred to the decision, which reasserts a five-year prison sentence and a 4 million Kč fine as the "same old, same old." He once again has the opportunity to take his case to the Supreme Court.

Bhalla was jailed in January and began serving a five-year sentence for tax evasion related to his bar and restaurant business. His conviction came despite a series of questionable surveillance tactics used by police and numerous missteps throughout the investigation including the loss of evidence that was nonetheless admitted in court.

"They even said that they agree with a photocopy as evidence," Bhalla said of one dubious piece of evidence cleared for a second time by the High Court decision.

The outlandish tactics utilized by police and prosecutors for the duration of the case have prompted speculation of racism and an incompetent judicial system, and raised questions about why Bhalla - an entrepreneur who moved to Prague in 1991 and had been running his bar and restaurant since 2001 - was so specifically targeted.

In December 2010, an appeals court ruled against an earlier appeal of the conviction by Bhalla in a closed session without the presence of Bhalla, his lawyer or even the prosecutor assigned to the case. That ruling came just days before a statute of limitations on the case was to expire, after the investigation, a series of police raids on Bhalla's home and businesses and court hearing had dragged on for some five years. He had also been jailed for some 14 months while awaiting trial.  

Among other things, key warrants in the case were obtained in a way that has since been declared unconstitutional. The High Court has opted to allow this evidence and upheld the conviction despite a Constitutional Court directive that all cases utilizing evidence collected in this way be wrapped up by Dec. 31, 2010.

While the case is likely to return to the Supreme Court, which has already overturned his conviction once, Bhalla is keeping mum, for the moment, on his next steps.

"I don't want to write it," Bhalla said in a recent e-mail, expressing concern that authorities might be monitoring his communication.

Bhalla has in the past expressed a desire to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com