Clear police escort dues of ₹24L before arguing bail plea: Court to Dheeraj Wadhawan

Abhijeet Shivthare, deputy commissioner of Navi Mumbai police, had approached the special PMLA court on September 16, informing it that Wadhawan had not cleared the police escort dues

Mumbai The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court said that it will not hear the bail plea of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan until he clears the dues of ₹24.10 lakh, payable to the Navi Mumbai police towards police escort charges.

The DCP submitted that Wadhawan, who was lodged at the Taloja central prison, was allowed to take treatment in a private hospital in Mumbai on the condition that he will have to bear the police escort charges (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“He is not prevented from prosecuting his bail application, but equally he cannot do so by keeping huge dues of the police authorities outstanding for service which he availed by way of an order of the court,” special judge MG Deshpande observed while directing Wadhawan to first clear outstanding dues of the police department.

Abhijeet Shivthare, deputy commissioner of Navi Mumbai police, had approached the special PMLA court on September 16, informing it that Wadhawan had not cleared the dues towards the police escort charges and urged the court to not hear any of his pending plea unless he clears the same.

The DCP submitted that Wadhawan, who was lodged at the Taloja central prison, was allowed to take treatment in a private hospital in Mumbai on the condition that he will have to bear the police escort charges. The police officer said that Wadhawan had to pay a total of ₹49.10 lakh towards the police escort charges, but he had only paid ₹25 lakh, keeping the balance amount outstanding.

The court noted that both accused - Dheeraj Wadhawan and his brother Kapil Wadhawan are presently lodged in a Delhi jail for investigation of other crimes registered against them there.

“If they are allowed to prosecute their applications without clearing the outstanding dues of police escort, that too when police authorities are knocking doors of this court for the same, entertaining their applications that is bail application will amount to an abuse of the process of law,” said the court.

The Wadhawan brothers were first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Yes Bank - DHFL fraud on April 26, 2020 and have been since behind bars. CBI alleged that former Yes Bank MD and CEO, Rana Kapoor, had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Wadhawan brothers and others for extending financial assistance to DHFL by Yes Bank Ltd in lieu of substantial undue benefit to himself and his family members through the companies held by them.

Accordingly, the agency claimed, Rana Kapoor through Yes Bank Ltd, invested ₹3,700 crore in the short-term non-convertible debentures of DHFL and ₹283 crore in masala bonds of DHFL, ED stated.

Simultaneous to this investment of ₹3,983 crore made by Yes Bank in DHFL, Kapil Wadhawan through DHFL paid a kickback of ₹600 crore, in the garb of loan to DOIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt. Ltd., a firm beneficially owned by Kapoor’s wife and daughters.

The Wadhawan brothers were also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate which is probing the money laundering aspects of the fraud.