Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to brothers Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhawan, promoters of the Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), in the case registered against them in the 2020 Yes Bank money laundering case.
The court granted bail on the grounds of long incarceration and no possibility of the trial commencing in the near future.
Justice Milind Jadhav, on Wednesday, directed their release on a bond of Rs one lakh each. Justice Jadhav remarked that the brothers have been in custody for four years and nine months and there was no possibility of the trial commencing in the near future.
Observation Made By The Court
“Detaining an undertrial prisoner for such an extended period further violates his fundamental right to speedy trial flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution,” HC said in a detailed 32-page judgment.
Directing their release, the HC said: “In my opinion, further incarceration of the applicants (Wadhwans) is not required and they are entitled to bail without entering into the merits of the case at this stage.”
Along with present status of the trial and no possibility of conflicting in foreseeable future, the judge took into account the pre-trial incarceration while granting bail.
Also, the two have been booked for offence for which the maximum punishment, if found guilty, is seven years. Considering they have been in custody since May 2020, they have spent half of the maximum punishment that can be imposed, the HC said.
Although the draft charges were submitted by the Directorate of Enforcement in May 2023, the charges are not yet framed. The judge said that the delay cannot be solely attributed to Wadhawans alone.
They approached the HC after their bail pleas were rejected by the special court.
They were arrested by the ED in May 2020 and have been in jail since then.
Their counsel Amit Desai argued that they have already undergone pretrial incarceration of over four years. The ED’s probe in the case is still pending and there is no intimation as to when the investigation would be completed and trial would begin in the case. He added that the duo have a fundamental right to speedy justice and liberty.
The case relates to a kickbacks for loan scam worth Rs4000 crore between Yes Bank’s founder Rana Kapoor and DHFL’s Wadhawans. The ED initiated a money laundering probe after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged a case of criminal conspiracy and corruption against the Wadhawans, Kapoor and several others. In all, there are 36 accused in the case.
