The sessions court has rejected anticipatory bail plea of former IRS officer turned lawyer, Vivek Batra, who was booked by the Malabar Hill police for luring a businessman to invest Rs57 lakh in one of his shell companies in 2006-07. The court observed that Batra indulged in such activities despite being a government official.
The case against Batra
It is the prosecution’s case that Batra had induced the businessman to invest in M/s ARJ Impex Pvt Ltd, one of his companies wherein his wife Priyanka was 99% shareholder. The businessman claimed that Batra, who was then posted as additional commissioner of Income-Tax (Mumbai), had allegedly assured him of higher returns on the pretext of the firm’s real estate interests. Batra assured him of signing an MoU which didn’t materialise till 2009 and neither was the money returned.
By 2017, after several reminders and legal notices, Batras returned only Rs9 lakh. The businessman then found out about a case registered against Batra for disproportionate assets. When he approached the police, they refused to lodge the case, calling it a civil dispute. He then approached the magistrate court, which also said that no case was made out. The case was formally registered by the Malabar Hill police last year after the Bombay High Court intervened and ordered it to reopen the case.
Batra approached sessions court for anticipatory bail
Fearing arrest by the police, Batra approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail, which was rejected. The court observed that there is a specific allegation in the FIR about inducement to invest and cheating thereafter. “The applicant appears to have played a vital role in the commission of offence,” the court said, adding that Batra’s custodial interrogation will throw light on the issues involved in the investigation.
The court said, “ The applicant is one of the prime sources of information related to the offence. If protection from arrest is granted, it will hamper the investigation.”
