The Supreme Court on Wednesday canceled statutory bail granted by High Court to former Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj in connection with a multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case.
A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi pronounced the operative part of the order today.
The court ruled that the high court and lower court greatly erred in granting bail. However, it allowed the trial court to hear regular bail plea by Wadhwan.
"We have no hesitation that the chargesheet having been filed and cognisance being taken in due time, respondents could not have claimed statutory bail as a right. High Court and lower court greatly erred. Trial court to hear afresh on regular bail. Appeals allowed accordingly."
Wadhawan is accused in a Rs 34,615-crore bank fraud case.
The Wadhawan brothers who were also directors of DHFL are accused cheating a Union Bank of India (UBI) led consortium of banks.
The former DHFL Chairman Kapil Wadhawan along with his associates got the consortium banks to sanction loans worth Rs 42,871.42 crore. They have been accused for dishonestly defaulting on repayment of the dues of the said consortium banks, and thus causing a loss of Rs 34,615 crore to the lenders.
They have been charged in a case of criminal conspiracy for allegedly siphoning and misappropriating a significant portion of the said funds by falsifying the books of the DHFL.
In July 2023, the Wadhawan brothers were arrested in the case of money laundering and allegedly cheating a consortium of 17 banks to the tune of Rs 34,615 crore.
A trial court had earlier granted default bail to the accused and the Delhi High Court upheld the order. However, the Supreme Court today overturned the orders by the Delhi High Court and the trial court saying that the accused cannot claim the statutory right of default bail on grounds that investigation is pending against the other accused. The top court has allowed Wadhawan to appeal for a regular bail in trail court.