The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate apprise it of their stand on plea of Dheeraj Wadhawan, a promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) and an accused in the Yes Bank fraud case, seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli asked the agencies as to why they want to keep the accused in jail and for what purpose when the charge sheet has been filed.
“We want to know as to for what purposes you want to keep him in jail. Do you want further investigation or what? Let him remain in jail or hospital. Tell us what you want to get out of him now...You are not denying that he has been in jail for 20 odd months,” said the bench during the hearing.
“Additional Solicitor General is directed to obtain instructions on the prayer of the petitioner for bail on medical grounds, in the meantime,” the bench ordered and listed the plea for further hearing on January 4.
During the hearing, additional solicitor general S V Raju, appearing for CBI and ED, said the accused has been in one of the best hospitals in the country and has been getting the best available treatment at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital.
“This is one of the greatest scams where the huge amount of money of the bank has been siphoned off and around Rs 600 crore has been paid as kickback and the money of middle class and poor people has been taken away,” the law officer said and sought time for responding to the bail plea.
“Can you afford to argue this for opposing the bail plea on medical grounds,” the bench asked.
The law officer said he was responding to the query as to why the agencies want the accused to remain in jail and so far as the medical grounds are concerned, firstly the health conditions are exaggerated and secondly, the best available treatment at one of the best hospitals.
He also referred to the past violations of the bail conditions by the accused.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the accused, referred to the medical conditions of Dheeraj Wadhawan and sought interim bail on this ground alone.
The accused was not precluded from filing bail applications on medical grounds just because another plea of default bail is pending, Singhvi argued , adding that the accused has had the “history of heart and lung problems”.
“The question is whether it is default bail or medical bail or whatever. We want to know the exact reasons as to why you want to keep him in jail,” the CJI asked.
The law officer referred to the gravity of the offence as one of the reasons for keeping the accused in jail.
Earlier on November 4, the Bombay High Court had rejected the bail applications of Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), in the Yes Bank fraud case, holding that procedures were followed when a charge sheet was filed.
The high court had rejected the arguments made by the Wadhawan that the CBI failed to follow procedure while filing a charge sheet in the case.
The Wadhawans had sought 'default bail', claiming that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the prosecuting agency, had not complied with the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) while filing a chargesheet in a special CBI court here.
A default bail is given when procedural aspects, such as filing charge sheet within the stipulated period, are not followed.
As per the FIR registered in the case by the CBI, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of DHFL between April and June 2018, for which the Wadhawans allegedly gave a kickback of Rs 600 crore to the bank's then CEO and managing director Rana Kapoor.
These kickbacks were in the form of a loan to a company registered in the name of Kapoor's daughters, it said.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
