HC Grants Bail to Builder in Yes Bank-DHFL Case

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Bail need not be denied only because a person is accused of an economic offence, the Bombay High Court noted on Friday, while granting relief to Pune-based builder Avinash Bhosale in an alleged corruption case involving Yes Bank and DHFL being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Bhosale, arrested in the case in May 2022, is currently in judicial custody, but admitted in a hospital for medical treatment.
A single bench of Justice N J Jamadar granted bail to the real estate developer and directed him to deposit a surety of Rs 1 lakh
The bench noted that it was not an "immutable rule of law that the accused be denied bail in serious economic offences."
"The parameters which govern the grant of bail in other categories of offences equally govern the case where a person is accused of an economic offence," the HC observed.
The judge added that while the court ought to be cognizant of the fact that the economic offences have serious ramifications, however, where other parameters are fulfilled, bail need not be denied on the score that the person is accused of an economic offence.
The bench said as per prima facie consideration of the prosecution case, the amount of alleged fraud attributable to Bhosale gets significantly scaled down and that has a bearing on the gravity of the allegations.
It added that investigation in the case is complete and three chargesheets have been filed already.
The HC said Bhosale has been in custody for two years and is facing prosecution for offences such as cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by a public servant under the Indian Penal Code and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

The bench said the applicability of the offence punishable under section 409 of IPC (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) in the context of the role attributed to the applicant appears contentious.
"The applicant (Bhosale) cannot be prima facie roped in for the offence punishable under Section 409 of IPC which entails punishment of imprisonment for life," the HC said.
Whether Bhosale can be roped in for having abetted commission of offences by a public servant punishable under the PCA would be a question which deserves determination at the trial, it added.

The CBI's allegations is that Bhosale had received kickbacks from Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor, also an accused in the case, in return for diverting funds.

Yes Bank under Kapoor had disbursed Rs 3,983 crore to Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), which were proceeds of crime. Out of the said amount, DHFL had sanctioned and disbursed loans aggregating to Rs 2,420 crore to three group concerns of the Radius group, headed by businessman Sanjay Chhabria, also an accused in the case, said the central probe agency.
Bhosale allegedly received Rs 350-crore kickbacks from the Radius group for facilitating loans from DHFL in the form of consultancy services payments, according to the CBI probe.
The CBI had in 2020 arrested Kapoor and DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, claiming they had entered into a criminal conspiracy through which financial assistance was extended to their housing finance firm in lieu of substantial undue benefits to the Yes Bank co-founder and his family members.