CBI charge sheet in ABG Shipyard case incomplete: Court
Special CBI judge Sameer Bajpai said CBI had not included provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in its charge sheet and the role of public officials had been kept pending as approval under section 17A of the act ‘is yet to be taken’
A Delhi court has granted bail to Rishi Kamlesh Agrawal, former chairman and managing director (CMD) of ABG Shipyard Ltd, accused of cheating banks of ₹22,842 crore, on grounds that the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the fraud is “incomplete”.
Special CBI judge at Rouse Avenue Courts, Sameer Bajpai, while granting bail on Wednesday asked Agrawal not to tamper with the evidence, influence the witnesses or leave the country.
Agrawal’s counsel Vijay Aggarwal had sought default bail for him, arguing that the CBI charge sheet, filed on November 19 against six individuals and 10 companies, “was incomplete as it was filed under sections 120B, 420 and 477A (sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy and fraud) and provisions of 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act were not included in charge sheet, which were originally invoked in the First Information Report (FIR) in February”.
Stressing that the CBI kept the probe against public servants pending, Aggarwal argued, “It is a settled law that a charge sheet has to be filed in respect of all the sections of the FIR, else it amounts to an incomplete charge sheet”.
The CBI opposed the bail, saying, “Rishi Agrawal is an influential person and has control over former directors and employees of ABG Group of companies, and if granted bail, he will influence the witnesses, tamper with the evidence and will also hamper the ongoing investigation. Further, if granted bail, he will flee away from the country”.
The agency also cited the huge amount — ₹22,842 crore — involved in the matter, to make a point that the offence was of grave nature and the accused should not get bail.
Upon hearing both the sides, Bajpai noted that CBI had not included provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in its charge sheet and the role of public officials had been kept pending as approval under section 17A of the act (mandatory approval from the authority concerned for an investigation against government servants) “is yet to be taken”.
“After considering the facts and law as discussed above, the Court is of the view that the charge sheet as filed by the CBI in this case is incomplete and the applicant is entitled for the desired relief,” the order said.
“Investigating agencies and filing incomplete chargesheet to defeat the right of statutory bail of Accused and that the Court should not fall under the trap of trickery and tactics of investigating agency who are in the habit of filing incomplete chargesheet in order to frustrate the fundamental rights of life and liberty of the accused,” Vijay Aggarwal argued in the court.
Agrawal was arrested on September 21.
At the time of filing its charge sheet, the CBI said it has so far detected diversion of bank money worth ₹5,000 crore by Agrawal and other co-accused to invest in immovable and movable properties in India and abroad, according to an agency officer who did not wish to be named. This officer added that some luxury properties of Agrawal had already been seized.
ABG Shipyard Ltd, the flagship company of ABG Group and a major player in the Indian ship-building industry, has been accused of cheating a consortium of 28 banks led by ICICI Bank of ₹22,842 crore between 2005 and 2012.