Bank fraud case: Court rejects plea of accused to take part in trial without bail
Kanpur: Special Judge Companies Act Azad Singh on Tuesday rejected the plea of two accused who sought permission to appear and participate in the trial of Rs 7,820 crore bank fraud case without seeking bail.
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The judicial official not only dismissed their application but also ordered that a date be fixed every week in the case. June 17 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.
The accused applicants, Sunil Verma and Anoop Kumar Verma, had submitted an application before the court to allow their participation in the trial. Kaushal Kishore Sharma, special prosecutor for the case, strongly opposed the plea, stating that without obtaining bail they can not be allowed to participate in the proceedings.
The Companies Act contains special provisions regarding bail, which override those in the Cr PC.
Consequently, the judicial official dismissed the application and fixed June 17 as the next date of hearing.
Sharma stated that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office had lodged a complaint against 69 accused on behalf of several banks in bank fraud amounting to Rs 7,820 crore. Some name and famed persons of the city were also implicated in the case while as many as 20 accused were residing abroad and their files had been separated from the main case.
Sharma mentioned that the court had already issued a non-bailable warrant against the accused, Satish Chandra Gupta, who is living abroad. The two accused Sunil Verma and Anoop Kumar Badhera had approached the apex court, where an order was passed that no coercive action should be taken against them, although their application is still pending. On Monday last, they moved an application before the court, which was dismissed.
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One of the accused, Vikram Kothari, has died, while others such as Rahul Kothari, builder Vishwanath Gupta, industrialist Suyash Desari and others have obtained bail orders in their favour from the apex court. The special prosecutor added that both accused have also applied for permission to travel abroad, and the court has reserved its order on that prayer.
Speaking with TOI, the special prosecutor stated that the accused had formed a company for mercantile trading. They acquired a letter of credit from a bank, claiming that the company would purchase rice from one country and sell it in another. However, they used the funds for personal gains and only displayed sales and purchases on paper.
The corporate ministry detected the nexus and ordered the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to lodge a complaint in the Companies Act court in 2020. Kanpur has the Companies Act court, which is the only one in Uttar Pradesh.
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