Maharashtra ready to hand over Wadhawans to CBI, ED
The CBI court has granted the brothers protection on grounds that their arrest is not possible during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) \for investigations into the case of alleged fraud at Yes Bank Limited, .Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday.
The brothers, meanwhile, obtained interim protection from arrest until May 5 from a special CBI court. The court has granted them the protection on grounds that their arrest is not possible during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The central agencies have sought custody of the Wadhawans after they were detained by Satara police for violating lockdown restrictions two weeks ago. DHFL has borrowed about Rs 3,700 crore from Yes Bank that is under stress. They are probing an alleged quid pro quo between DHFL and Yes Bank and their promoters.
In a Facebook live address on Wednesday morning, Deshmukh said the 14-day quarantine of the businessmen brothers would end on Wednesday, April 22, after which the agencies can seek the custody of the brothers.
“We have written to both the central agencies that they can take custody on Wednesday afternoon. They [Wadhawans] are at a school in Panchgani [in Satara district] completing their mandatory quarantine,” he said.
The Wadhawan brothers and 21 other family members were detained by Satara police on March 7 after they illegally travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala during the lockdown for the coronavirus disease pandemic . To cross the district borders, they provided a letter written by Amitabh Gupta, principal secretary (special) in the home department, who is now facing an inquiry.
“We have written to the central agencies to take over custody anytime from now. It is up to them to decide when to act on our request,” a home department official said on condition of anonymity.
The Wadhawans and family members have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Disaster Management Act 2005.
The CBI had obtained non-bailable warrants against the two on March 17. In a letter, dated April 17, the deputy inspector general of CBI and the assistant director of ED were requested by the Satara superitendent of police Tejaswi Satpute to take follow-up action by April 22.