A special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday directed Taloja jail authorities to shift Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan, an accused in the Yes Bank scam case to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. This is after he sought medical treatment.
Wadhawan had sought interim medical bail earlier, but on Tuesday his law firm Rashmikant and Partners did not press for it. Advocate Rohan Dakshini said they only sought the relief that he be shifted to the private hospital for his treatment. The 43-year-old has been in KEM hospital for over a month. He underwent a gall-bladder stone surgery there, but later developed an infection which has affected his kidneys.
Wadhawan had been in the KEM hospital’s ICU for the past few days. Hence, they made a request to shift him to a private hospital as his condition was not improving.
Special PMLA judge Abhijeet Nandgaonkar while granting the relief said that Wadhawan would have to bear the to and fro escort charges and treatment charges. The court has also directed the jail authorities to appoint 24 x 7 guards at the hospital, the charges for which too will have to be borne by Wadhawan.
The court has asked for a weekly report of his treatment and condition from the Director of the private hospital. He will be shifted back to prison once his treatment completes.
Dheeraj and his brother Kapil Wadhawan, also a promoter of DHFL, are accused of conniving with Yes Bank’s then MD Rana Kapoor to get the bank to invest Rs 3,700 crore in their company in short-term debentures.
For this, the Wadhawans had allegedly paid a kickback of Rs 600 crore to Rana Kapoor in the form of a builder loan to a company owned by his daughter Roshini. This loan was allegedly sanctioned with substandard collateral of meagre value. DHFL has not redeemed the amount of Rs 3,700 crore.
