Mumbai, March 11 (IANS) A court Friday granted conditional bail to Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing away $8 billion abroad, and said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had failed to establish a case of money laundering against him.

Judge M.L. Tahilyani observed that the documents given cannot substantiate ED's case linking Khan to money laundering.

Khan was given bail on a surety of Rs.75,000. The court also directed Khan to stay in Mumbai for the next five days and said ED can question him for the next 48 hours.

The court also observed that ED cannot get Khan's custody due to lack of substantial evidence.

Questioning ED for lack of preparedness in forming a case against Khan, the court observed that it is difficult to say if the documents submitted by the ED were genuine.

However, Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Awasthi said that ED possesses "overwhelming evidences" against Khan and that the court "failed to appreciate the evidence submitted".

"We wanted Khan's remand as we have vital links on the issue and need to have his custodial interrogation," Awasthi said.

"We will first secure an order copy of the verdict and then appeal in a higher court as per the law," he said.