[Avantha case] Rana Kapoor, Gautam Thapar, 7 others granted bail by Special PMLA Court

A Mumbai court on Wednesday granted bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and Avantha Realty promoter Gautam Thapar in connection with a fraud case of the bank involving a transaction of ₹307 crores with the realty company..The Special Court under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) directed that Kapoor and Thapar be released from prison upon furnishing bail bond of ₹5 lakh each with one or two sureties of like amount.Special Judge MG Deshpande also added the following conditions:To attend every date of the trial scrupulously;To not tamper with evidence collected by the Enforcement Directorate; andTo submit respective passports to ED immediately and seek permission from the Court before travelling abroad..Kapoor along with his wife Bindu Kapoor and Thapar are in custody for an alleged loan scam of over ₹1700 crores.After the offence was registered by the Central bureau of Investigation, ED registered a money laundering case.The FIR claimed that Kapoor obtained pecuniary advantage of over ₹300 crores thereby causing loss of over ₹1700 crores to Yes Bank by extending credit facilities to Avantha group of companies when it was not eligible..Advocate Vijay Aggarwal appearing for Kapoor, submitted that Kapoor had not been arrested by ED during investigation of the matter and post filing of the prosecution complaint without arrest, was entitled to be released on bail.He pointed out that the offences against Kapoor was punishable with maximum imprisonment of seven years.Since the bail jurisprudence was divided for offence punishable upto 7 and more than 7 years, Kapoor deserves the discretion of the court to be released on bail, Aggarwal contended.Advocate Sandeep Kapur from Karanjawala & Co. supplemented the arguments by pointing out that the proceeds of crime in the present case had already been duly secured as ED had provisionally attached property, and hence there was no question of fleeing from justice.Special Public Prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves opposed the bail application stating that the case is an economic offence having a magnitude of more than ₹300 crores..After considering arguments of all sides, the Court proceeded to allow the bail applications.Kapoor continues to remain in custody in relation to other Yes Bank related scams while Thapar is lodged in Tihar jail for another case which is also being investigated by ED.A detailed bail order is awaited.