NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed an order allowing statutory bail to former Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj in connection with a multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case.
A bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi said that the court has no hesitation to hold that the charge sheet having been filed and cognisance being taken in due time, Wadhawan brothers could not have claimed statutory bail as a right.
The bench said that the high court and the lower court erred in granting the accused default bail.
The court said the trial court can hear the matter afresh on regular bail.
The CBI challenged the statutory bail granted by courts below to former Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj in connection with a multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, for the CBI, said that the charge sheet in the case was filed well within the 90 days statutory period and yet the statutory bail was granted to the accused.
The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) allowed an accused to seek a statutory bail if the probe agency fails to file the charge sheet on conclusion of the investigation in a criminal case within 60 or 90-days period.
In the case, the CBI filed the charge sheet on the 88th day of arrest after registration of the FIR and the trial court granted default bail to the accused and the Delhi High Court upheld the order.
In May last year, the Delhi High Court upheld the statutory bail granted to DHFL promoters in connection with a multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case.
The high court had rejected CBIs plea challenging the trial court order and held the decision to grant them bail was based on good reasoning and logic.
It has been alleged that DHFL, its then CMD Kapil Wadhawan, the then Director Dheeraj and other accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium of 17 banks led by the Union Bank of India to the tune Rs 42,871.42 crore in pursuance of the criminal conspiracy.
