DHFL - Yes Bank case: PMLA Court rejects plea by Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan for transfer to Arthur Road jail

A Mumbai Court on Monday extended till June 20 the remand of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, who are in judicial custody following their arrest in a ₹3,700 crore loan scam case involving Yes Bank. .The duo had requested the special court, constituted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to transfer them to Arthur Road jail instead of remanding them to Taloja Central Prison. Judge MG Deshpande rejected this prayer and directed that they be sent back to Taloja Central prison as only the jail authorities were competent to take a call on such issues. “Basically, which jail the accused under judicial custody have to be kept, is a question to be dealt with by jail authorities. If prayer of each and every accused persons is considered, like present one that they should be lodged in particular jail, that will unnecessarily cause interference in the jail administration,” the Court observed while refusing to transfer. .The jail authorities also informed the Court about the lack of space in Arthur jail and how Taloja prison would be better equipped to accommodate the accused.“The Superintendent, Arthur Road has been repeatedly communicating (to) this Court how the said jail is overcrowded by undertrial prisoners (triple than the basic prescribed strength). Admittedly, these two accused persons were in Taloja Jail right from the beginning (2020) till their transfer to Delhi,” the Court noted. .Senior advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for the accused, argued that one of the accused was under treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. The Court, however, was not convinced by this submission and noted that both of the accused had been produced from Tihar jail and not from AIIMS.The judge further noticed from the pleadings that while in Taloja Jail, Dheeraj was lodged in a private hospital for a long time and had to be discharged from the hospital on the orders of a Mumbai court after calling for reports.“When they were in Taloja Jail, one of them had consumed maximum period of his judicial custody in Kokilaben Hospital. Ultimately, this court was constrained to call all high level doctors of Kokilaben Hospital and directed them to file an affidavit. Thereafter, he was immediately discharged," the PMLA court observed. .The Court added that Taloja Central prison would take utmost care of the health of the accused“It is a fact that one of these two accused persons had provided best available Medical aid previously when both of them were lodged in Taloja Jail,” the Court said while disposing of the plea. .[Read Order]