PMLA court allows Rana Kapoor’s daughter to pursue course in US

Roshni Kapoor, daughter of former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, has been allowed to travel to the US for higher studies by a special PMLA court. The court criticised the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for not suspending the look-out circular issued against Roshni, even after granting her permission to travel abroad. Despite the court allowing Roshni to travel, she was detained at the airport on the basis of the circular. Rana Kapoor is accused of misusing his position as CEO and allegedly received kickbacks for himself and his family members through companies held by Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL.

The special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Monday permitted Roshni Kapoor, daughter of former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, to travel to the US for higher studies, on grounds that a student had every right to pursue a course of his or her choice.

Mumbai, India - March 11, 2020: Roshini Kapoor daughter of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor outside Enforcement Directorate office, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday 11 Mar, 2020.

The court pulled up the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for not suspending the look-out circular (LOC) issued against Roshni even after she was granted permission by the court to travel abroad.

“When the court imposed a condition while granting bail to the accused that she should obtain the court’s permission to travel abroad, the agency ought to have informed the court about the existence of the LOC,” the court said.

However, despite the court allowing Roshni to travel, she was detained at the airport on the basis of the LOC, and thus, the permission granted by the court automatically became useless and the act caused harassment to the applicant, the court said. “Agencies cannot nullify a court’s order in such a way.”

Roshni had approached the court seeking permission to travel to New York to pursue a course in contemporary art with the prestigious Christie’s Education.

The ED had opposed the plea, claiming that the grounds for proposed travel were flimsy, as most of the educational courses nowadays were available online. The agency had further contended that the applicant would be staying in New Jersey, around 70 km from New York, and it was not practicable to travel such a long distance every day. Therefore, “the trip appeared to be for purposes other than pursuing education courses,” the ED had said, adding that if she left India, she might not return to face the trial.

The court, however, rejected the ED’s objections and said “the applicant was educated in London and travelled extensively all over the world when she was not an accused. This fact is evident from paragraph 22 of the application. Ever since she started facing these cases, she has not committed any breach of conditions imposed on her by various courts. But her future career has become stagnant. Now she desires to join a course, as per her application, at the highly reputed Christie’s Education, New York, USA.”

Rana Kapoor is accused of misusing his position as CEO of the bank and allegedly extended financial assistance to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL and in return, received around ₹600 crore in kickbacks for himself and his family members through companies held by them.