The Supreme Court on Wednesday junked a plea by Amrapali Group's former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Chander Prakash Wadhwa, seeking bail on medical grounds.
A bench, headed by Justice U.U. Lalit, took note of the report prepared by the medical board, which indicated that Wadhwa's medical condition is quite stable. Senior advocate Aman Lekhi represented Wadhwa before the top court.
The bench, also comprising Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and P.S. Narasimha, had directed a medical board be set up to examine Wadhwa.
The bench, in its order, said, "The report in question has been placed on record. It shows that the board consisting of Chief Medical Superintendent and Heads of Department of Neurology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Cardiology, and Medicine were members of the board. After examining the petitioner, the report has been made by the board. As the report indicates, the medical condition of the petitioner is quite stable."
The bench further added that the record indicates the petitioner has already completed one year and four months of actual custody.
The bench noted, "it appears that in all, three complaints have been filed by the Enforcement Directorate and the petitioner is the only natural person who was arrayed as an accused, apart from two corporate entities, in the third complaint".
"In the circumstances, we direct as under: A. All three complaints shall be taken up for framing of charges, if any, immediately. B. The accused shall be produced or remain present before the concerned Court on April 6 to facilitate the exercise as directed above. C. The matter shall be considered in right earnest. D. The petitioner shall be at liberty to renew the prayer for bail in case charges are framed against the petitioner. E. The matter at the stage of framing of charges, if any, shall be considered purely on its own merits," it said in its order.
Dismissing the Wadhwa's appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court order, the bench said: "If there be any occasion for the petitioner to prefer an application for bail, in terms of directions given, the same shall also be considered purely on its own merits."
The top court on March 14 directed that Wadhwa should be produced before the medical board consisting of four medical professionals from King George's Medical University, Lucknow within seven days. It directed the board to examine and submit a report.
Former group directors of Amrapali Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya, and Ajay Kumar are in prison on apex court's order.
(With inputs from IANS)
