Bombay High Court grants bail to Rakesh Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhawan in PMC bank fraud case

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to promoters of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, in cases arising from Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC bank) fraud. .The cases are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as well as the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police.Single-judge Justice SM Modak noted that the father and son have been in prison for over 3.5 years in the case..The High Court reasoned that since the trial arising from the EOW investigation was unlikely to conclude soon, bail ought to be granted.While doing this, the judge also emphasised that prosecuting agencies and accused had a responsibility towards the criminal justice system to remain vigilant and ensure early disposal of trials."If their case is not progressed (due to pendency), they are not remedyless. They can request the head of that establishment (i.e. Principal Judge) to assign the case to another court. Ultimately, running of a system is collective responsibility. The defense counsel have also a role to play. On one hand, they have got every right to protect the interest of their clients and at the same time, they have to come forward for early disposal of the case. Because, they are also part and parcel of the system. And the system must work. Defence counsel are also part of the same society for betterment of which system is created", the court held. .Justice Modak noted that no such steps had been taken by either lawyers parties in the present case and hence proceeded to grant bail to the duo.It was also convinced that both father and son had spent more than half of the maximum period of imprisonment and hence, were entitled for bail.It ordered their release subjecting to furnishing personal and surety bonds of ₹5,00,000 each, in each case (ED and EOW separately)..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for the accused, requested for a limited duration cash bail as arranging surety would take time. The Court refused to accede to the request.“There is a purpose behind insisting for surety bail and that too, heavy surety. Because, the presence has to be secured. Hence, it is rejected,” the Court recorded in its order..The judge also ordered the Registrar General of the High Court to interact with the Principal Judge at the Mumbai City Civil and Sessions Court about the pending matters under PMLA and the deputation of requisite number of judges basis the availability and requirement..The two moved the Court court seeking bail under section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure claiming they had spent almost three and a half years in prison which was half of the maximum sentence provided for the offence of money laundering..The ED case against the two was registered on the basis of a first information report (FIR) lodged by the EOW, Mumbai of September 30, 2019 which booked the duo for an alleged fraud at the cooperative bank..The plea filed through advocate Sagar Shetty stated that Sarang Wadhawan and his son Rakesh Wadhawan were arrested on October 17, 2019 and had spent over 1,000 days in prison in the money laundering case.The plea highlighted that the maximum punishment under PMLA was 7 years.It was contended that as per section 436A of CrPC, if an under trial prisoner is detained for a period lasting up to half of the maximum period of the imprisonment provided for the alleged crime, the prisoner is required to be released on bail..The prosecuting agencies opposed the application on the ground that the Wadhawans had three more money laundering cases registered against them.The Court, however, found it fit to grant bail to the accused..With the last of the bail orders in cases against them being passed by the Higb Court, the father and son can walk out of Arthur Road jail after complying with required bail conditions..Chief Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar appeared as special counsel for ED along with advocate Ayush Kedia.Additional Public Prosecutor SV Gavand appeared for EOW.Senior Counsel Aabad Ponda along with advocates Subhash Jadhav, Chandansingh Shekhawat, Yashovardhan Deshmukh briefed by Pariman Law Associate appeared for Sarang Wadhawan.Advocates Harshad Nimbalkar, Hrishikesh Chitaley, Ashish Verma, Sagar Shetty, Satyam Nimbalkar, Abhishek Arote, Sonia Redkar, Shraddha Nagaonkar, Akshay Naik and R Chhabra appeared for Rakesh Wadhawan..[Read Orders]