Two employees of the Hiranandani group of companies, accused of not depositing Rs nine crore into the Employees Provident Fund account, were granted anticipatory bail on Saturday.
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court granted bail to company’s General Manager Joseph
Reddy and Project Director C. Pithawala.
The CBI had registered a First Information Report (FIR) in 2008 against the due as well as four Provident Fund officers and two directors of the Hiranandani group - Niranjan Hiranandani and Surendra Hirandani. They subsequently registered a case of criminal conspiracy and cheating against Reddy and Pithawala in 2008.
The CBI said the Hiranandani group had not given employees their provident fund in the year 2003 -2004.
Reddy and Pithwala, who approached the court last week, contended siphoning of money could not take place because the amount was paid to the employees of building contractors and not Hiranandani employees. They had also contended that the contractors should have deducted the provident fund money themselves.
The court allowed their anticipatory bail applications observing that custodial interrogation is not required.