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The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, nullified the statutory bail granted to Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, former promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), in connection with a multi-crore bank loan scam. The apex court stated that the Delhi High Court and the trial court had committed errors in granting bail to the brothers accused in the Rs 34,615 crore bank loan fraud case.
Justices Bela M Trivedi and SC Sharma asserted that the charge sheet was filed within the prescribed time limit, and the brothers couldn’t claim the statutory right of default bail under Section 167(2) of CrPC, emphasizing that the cognizance had been taken by the special court.
The Supreme Court directed the immediate custody of the Wadhawan brothers, overturning their statutory bail.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) criticized the lower courts’ decision to grant statutory bail, arguing that the charge sheet was filed well within the 90-day statutory period. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the CBI, highlighted that despite the timely filing of the charge sheet, the accused were granted bail by the trial court, a decision later upheld by the Delhi High Court.
The Wadhawan brothers were arrested on July 19, 2023, in connection with the multi-crore bank loan scam. The charge sheet, filed on October 15, 2022, accused them of engaging in a criminal conspiracy to deceive a consortium of 17 banks, leading to substantial loans totaling Rs 42,871.42 crore. The CBI alleged misappropriation and siphoning off a significant portion of the funds, causing a wrongful loss of Rs 34,615 crore to the consortium banks. The case was based on a complaint by the Union Bank of India. The Supreme Court’s decision underscores concerns about the interpretation and application of statutory bail provisions in complex financial fraud cases.
