Yes Bank loan fraud case: Delhi Court remands Gautam Thapar to ED custody till August 15

The Rouse Avenue District Court at Delhi today remanded businessman Gautam Thapar to custody with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till August 15 in the Yes Bank loan fraud case.

The Court also allowed Thapar to meet with his lawyer, Senior Partner at Karanjawala & Co Sandeep Kapur, this evening in the offices of the ED.

Appearing on behalf of Thapar, Kapur submitted today that the ED has not stated in its application the reasons for which it requires custodial interrogation of his client.

Kapur also contended that custodial interrogation is not required as the evidence in the case is primarily documentary in nature, and in such matters, a case diary has to be maintained by the ED. The Court should be able to summon such case diary in order to review the investigation conducted thus far, he added.

It was further argued that the ED should not have arrested Thapar, as the current Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) is based on a scheduled offence, and that the investigation of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case has barely progressed.

After hearing both parties, the Court decided to grant ED 10 days' remand of Gautam Thapar till August 15, 2021, and disposed of all pending applications.

Yesterday, the ED had arrested Gautam Thapar, who is a promoter of the Avantha Group, for alleged diversion of bank funds, sham transactions with related parties, fabricating books of accounts, and siphoning off funds.

The ED had lodged a case against Thapar for causing a ₹467 crore loss to Yes Bank, which had extended a loan of ₹515 crore to Avantha Group for ten years in 2017.