Mumbai: The Bombay High Court granted bail Thursday to DHFL promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan. Both of them have been accused of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the multi-crore Yes Bank fraud case. The Bombay High Court said mandatory default bail is the sequel to non-filing of chargesheet. The brothers, however, will remain in jail. They have also been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case.
Justice Bharati Dangre granted them bail as the ED failed to file its chargesheet in the case within the stipulated 60-day period.
The court noted that there is a period prescribed in law for filing of the chargesheet. So an accused cannot be kept in custody even for a day after that stipulated time. Then the accused have the right to default bail.
“Mandatory default bail is a sequel to non-filing of the charge sheet,” Justice Dangre said in the order. He directed the duo to furnish a surety of Rs 1,00,000 and surrender their passports.
Also read: DHLF promoters Kapil Wadhawan, brother Dheeraj in CBI custody: Minister Anil Deshmukh
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for ED, sought the court to stay its order for two weeks. It would have enabled the probe agency to appeal in the Supreme Court. Justice Dangre, however, refused.
“There is no starting point or end point for the authorities to complete their action. However, if the investigation is not completed and chargesheet is not filed within the prescribed time, a right accrues to the accused to be released on bail,” the order said.
Kapil and Dheeraj, promoters of the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), had sought bail on the same grounds. They were arrested May 14 by the ED on money laundering charges.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has booked the Wadhawans, Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor, daughters Roshni and Rekha, and their chartered accountant firm Dularesh K Jain and Associate.
The ED had initiated proceedings in the case after the CBI registered an FIR March 7, 2020 in connection with alleged suspicious loans granted by Yes Bank and the ‘quid pro quo’ between Rana Kapoor and the Wadhawans.