MUMBAI: Refusing to grant
bail
to
DHFL
promoters Dheeraj and
Rakesh Wadhawan
, who sought the relief on the grounds that they had already spent more than half the maximum sentence of seven years in jail, a special PMLA court said the one year that the duo consumed in stalling their bail pleas had to be deducted from the computation of the time they had spent as undertrials.
The brothers were arrested in 2020 in a
money laundering
case in which Yes Bank founder
Rana Kapoor
and others are also accused.
In Dec last year, Kapoor was granted bail in the case after the judge pointed out that he had spent more than the minimum punishment period of three years, without the framing of charges and a trial. In an 83-page order, the judge had cited a table chronicling 207 dates in the case, emphasising that Kapoor was not responsible for the delays.
Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code allows the release of
undertrial
prisoners upon completion of half of the maximum jail sentence. In the case of the
Wadhawans
, the judge, though, said the section does not provide an absolute right of bail and it may be denied where the trial is delayed because of the accused.
The judge said there cannot be any dispute that filing a bail plea is a constitutional right of any accused. "...but certainly if such accused files bail application... and strategically keeps the same pending for uncertain period, ie for a long period of one year, can it be held that he is exercising his constitutional right of bail and such leisure on his part has lawful exemption under the explanation to Section 436A? Certainly, conduct of the accused itself is an answer to this question. In my opinion, this much period of one year has to be deducted while computation of period under Section 436A...," Special Judge M G Deshpande said.
The judge further said when it was noticed that the accused kept the bail pleas under Section 436A strategically pending, causing impediment in the progress of the trial of other undertrial prisoners, co-accused Avinash Bhosale and Sanjay Chhabria, a noting was also made in the daily court recordings about how the lawyer would simply appear and not pursue the pleas.
"It is only thereafter, arguments in these two applications began and finally concluded on March 26... Can it be said that both applicants are bona fide exercising their right under Section 436A...? Is it not a delay in proceeding caused by applicants... ?" the judge said.
The judge referred to the earlier bail pleas kept pending by the duo from 2022 till March 2023 when they were finally decided. The judge said after excluding this period, the remaining period does not qualify for bail.
In October 2023, the
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) had provisionally attached assets worth Rs 70.4 crore of erstwhile DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank loan fraud case.
The attached assets were in the form of paintings and sculptures worth nearly Rs 28.6 crore, watches worth Rs 5 crore diamond jewellery worth over Rs 10.7 crore.
English (US) ·