[DHFL bank loan scam] Delhi court denies statutory bail to Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan

A Delhi court has refused statutory bail to former Dewan Housing and Finance Limited (DHFL) Managing Director Kapil Wadhawan and Director Dheeraj Wadhawan in the alleged bank loan scam of over ₹34,000 crore..Both the accused were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 19, 2022.They approached the court arguing that even though more than 60 days have passed since their arrest, the investigation in the matter is not complete and the CBI has not filed its charge sheet as yet.Therefore, they are entitled to statutory bail under Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedures (CrPC), the bail application argued..However, Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court held that the two accused have also been charged with Section 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which brings the period of completion of investigation within the purview of Section 167(2)(a)(i) CrPC which provides for 90 days."The filing of the present chargesheet in the present investigation shall be governed by Section 167(2)(a)(i) CrPC which provides for a maximum period of 90 days. Since the period of 90 days has not yet expired in the present investigation, which also relates to Section 409 IPC, applicants Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan are not entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) CrPC," the Court said..The allegation is that Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhwan and other accused entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India. The complaint alleged that the accused induced the consortium banks to sanction loans aggregating to ₹42,871.42 crore. Much of this amount was allegedly siphoned off and misappropriated by alleged falsification of the books of the DHFL and dishonest default in repayment of the legitimate dues of the said consortium banks. .The complaint also alleges that a wrongful loss of ₹34,615.00 crore was caused to the consortium banks..Advocates Vijay Aggarwal, Sandeep Khairwal, Yugant Sharma and Ashutosh Singh appeared for the applicants.Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Rattan Deep Singh appeared for CBI. .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.