New Delhi: Former Delhi high court judge Sunil Gaur will likely be the new chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (ATPMLA), according to two media reports.Justice Gaur has recently been in the spotlight after he denied bail to senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, describing the former finance minister as the “kingpin” in the INX Media controversy, and then retiring two days later.The bail rejection order passed by the former Delhi high court judge has over the last few days been debated extensively in the Supreme Court and the special CBI court at Rouse Avenue Court Complex. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal alleged that Justice Gaur had merely “copy-pasted” the accusations passed to him in a sealed cover by solicitor general Tushar Mehta.According to News18, Justice Gaur will likely be appointed by the Centre as the next chairperson of the PMLA tribunal. Another media report stated that he will take over on September 23, a day after the current ATPMLA chairperson Justice Manmohan Singh retires.No official appointment order has been made public yet.Justice Gaur was elevated to the high court in April 2008. He was designated as a permanent judge on April 11, 2012. During his time, he handled several politically-sensitive cases, including passing an order that cleared the decks for the prosecution of top Congress leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, in the National Herald case.Last Monday, he denied anticipatory bail to businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, in the AgustaWestland chopper scam.He also passed a judgement last year asking Associated Journals Ltd, the publisher of National Herald, to vacate its office at ITO in Delhi.The decision was upheld by a division bench of the high court, but was put on hold by the Supreme Court in April 2019. The matter is still pending in the apex court.Justice Gaur also dealt with some issues arising out of corruption cases, including the money laundering case against controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi.(With inputs from PTI)