The special CBI court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in connection with the case registered over his alleged deals with Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).
The special judge SU Wadgaonkar while rejecting the plea observed that the accused/applicant is a principal accused and played an active role in the crime in question. The special court considered that the investigation is kept open even after filing the charge sheet, as the probe was affected due to spread of pandemic Covid-19.
Just before the national lockdown was announced by the government, the CBI had obtained a production warrant for Kapoor to obtain his custody in the bank fraud case. However, the agency decided to wait amidst the lockdown.
Pending the execution of the warrant, Kapoor approached the special CBI court for anticipatory bail. Before his plea was heard, CBI filed a charge sheet in the case. Hence, while seeking pre-arrest bail, Kapoor’s lawyers argued that the agency had asked for issuance of summons to Kapoor and his family, and they pleaded that the custodial interrogation was not needed by the agency.
The special court refused to accept the contentions and also noted that there is a reasonable ground available to show that custodial interrogation of Kapoor is required by the agency.
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As per the case registered by CBI, Yes Bank had invested ₹3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) between April and June 2018, in return for which Kapoor was allegedly paid ‘kickbacks’ amounting to ₹600 crore by DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan in form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd.
DHFL sanctioned a loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RAB Enterprises in which Kapoor’s wife Bindu is a director and a major shareholder, alleged CBI. The loan was sanction on the mortgage of sub-standard property having meagre value.
Further, the agency claimed that Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan ₹750 crores to M/s RKW developers which is DHFL group of company. The loan was sanctioned for the purpose of Bandra Reclamation project. The Whole amount was siphoned off by Kapil Wadhawan since the entire amount was transferred by RKW developers to DHFL without making an investment in the Bandra reclamation project.
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Recently, the special CBI court under Prevention of Corruption Act refused to accept charge sheet as the agency has not obtained sanction to prosecute Kapoor. The case was transferred to special CBI magistrate court.
The court while transferring the case held that the agency has not even initiated a process to obtain prosecution sanction against Rana, who is a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act). The prosecution sanction is a must to invoke the provision of PC Act against any public servant.
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