Delhi Court dismisses bail plea of DHFL bank fraud accused stating the investigation is 'intricate'

A Delhi Court on Sunday dismissed the bail petition of the accused arrested in connection with an alleged DHFL bank fraud on the basis of an intricate investigation.

The Court has dismissed the bail petition of Ajay Ramesh Nawandar arrested in connection with an alleged bank fraud of Rs 34,615 crore by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL).

Special Judge Vishal Gogne on Saturday while dismissing the bail petition said, "In the present facts, the Court is inclined to decline the bail not because the offences are economic in nature but on account of the investigation into the present offences being intricate, the accused prima facie being complicit at some stage of the handling/diversion of the humongous funds originating from the loans, a strong likelihood of him tampering with evidence and the foreseeable possibility of him influencing witnesses if admitted to bail".

"It is apparently the contemporary jurisprudence regarding the interplay of an economic offence with the prayer for bail that an economic offence cannot be classified as a composite class. Such offences involve other defined offences," he added.

While there may be enhanced gravity to such distinct offences which qualify for the generic description as an economic offence, the mere allegation of an offence being an economic offence is not an insurmountable hurdle for an accused in the quest for bail, said the court.

Vikas Pahwa, Senior Counsel appearing for the accused submitted, "The accused has neither been cited as a promoter/ director/official of the DHFL or its associate companies nor had he been projected by the CBI to have been instrumental in the arrangement/disbursal/utilisation of the loan amounts in question".

Accused Nawandar through Advocate Hemant Shah stated that the accused was arrested in the matter regarding the erstwhile promoters of DHFL siphoning the credit facilities availed from banks and a small fraction of the amount thereof was also spent on purchasing certain paintings/ sculptures. Out of these paintings, 2 paintings have been recovered from the premise of the applicant (Nawandar) and the same did not belong to the Applicant.

According to the CBI, during the searches at Nawandar's premises, it has recovered a large number of uber-luxury watches worth crores of rupees, including Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Cartier, Omega and Hublot Michael Kors.

During the investigation, it was found that the promoters had allegedly diverted the funds and made investments in various entities. It was also alleged that the promoters had acquired expensive paintings and sculptures worth about Rs. 55 Crore using the diverted funds, said CBI officials.

The Promoters of DHFL, Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Rajesh Wadhawan were also recently arrested by the CBI and are presently in Judicial custody.

( With inputs from ANI )

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