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The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the CBI on a bail plea filed by former DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan in an alleged Rs 34,926 crore bank fraud case.
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to the agency and sought its response.
The Delhi high court on August 4 denied bail to Wadhawan, noting that his conduct during custody was “not beyond reproach”.
The high court denied the relief, saying such economic offences were not only crimes against specific victims but against the financial system at large.
The CBI alleged Wadhawan, as promoter and CMD of DHFL, was the principal architect of a massive financial fraud involving diversion and misappropriation of approximately Rs 34,926 crore from a consortium of 17 banks.
“It is noteworthy that the conduct of the applicant during custody has not been beyond reproach.
“The allegations regarding manipulation of valuable assets and transactions carried out during judicial custody are grave and suggest that the applicant continues to exercise significant control and influence,” the HC order said.
The high court noted the CBI’s submission that Wadhawan was facing multiple investigations and cases across jurisdictions involving serious financial offences, which undermined his argument that he posed no risk if enlarged on bail.
“The court cannot permit the release of a person who is prima facie the mastermind of a deep-rooted financial fraud, especially when the trial is at a nascent stage,” the high court judge had said.
If released on bail, the order pointed out, the applicant might tamper with the evidence or worse flee from justice.
“Many of the witnesses in this case are stated to be either ex-employees or associates of DHFL and as such there is a high risk and possibility that the petitioner might try to influence the witnesses,” it had said.
He was accused of creating and operating 87 shell companies in the names of associates, employees, and relatives to siphon off funds, falsely recorded as retail housing loans to over 2.6 lakh fictitious customers through a non-existent “Bandra Branch-001” in DHFL’s internal systems.
He was taken into custody in the case on July 19, 2022 and was granted default statutory bail on December 3, 2022, but the Supreme Court cancelled his bail on January 24, 2024.
The high court observed his “effective custody” was two years and not four years as claimed.
“Having regard to the nature and seriousness of the allegations, the gravity of the offence, the applicant’s central role in the conspiracy, the potential adverse impact of his release on the trial and the huge magnitude of the funds siphoned of, this court finds no merit in the present application,” the order held.
