Hiranandani brothers get bail
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to the Hiranandani brothers — Niranjan and Surendra — in connection with the alleged Rs 160-crore employee provident fund scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to the Hiranandani brothers — Niranjan and Surendra — in connection with the alleged Rs 160-crore employee provident fund scam.
Niranjan and Surendra had applied for anticipatory bail after the CBI issued a lookout notice against them on August 3.
CBI had opposed their anticipatory bail application saying the brothers were the direct beneficiaries of the scam and their custodial interrogation was necessary to gather more information. CBI said both brothers had come for questioning only three or four times, which was not enough.
According to the CBI, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered on March 29, 2008, based on specific intelligence. The CBI registered a case of criminal conspiracy and cheating. Two directors of the Hirandani group and four PF officers are also named in the FIR.
Hiranandani group had not deposited the employees’ provident fund to their accounts in the year 2003-2004, according to the CBI. On July 31, the court granted bail to general manager Joseph Reddy and project director C. Pithawala who were allegedly involved in the case.
Before granting anticipatory bail, the court directed Niranjan and Surendra to take the court’s permission before leaving the country and the CBI’s permission before leaving the city. Both were granted anticipatory bail for a bond amount of Rs 1 lakh.