SC cancels bail to DHFL promoter in Rs 42,000 cr. loan scam, gives Deepak Wadhawan two weeks to surrender

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 5 August, cancelled the bail granted to former Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan in the multi-crore bank loan scam case.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order after perusing the report filed by a medical board and directed Wadhawan to surrender within two weeks.

The Delhi High Court had on 9 September 2024, granted him bail on medical grounds saying Wadhawan fell within the parameters of a "sick person".

Tuesday's order came on an appeal filed by the CBI appeal against the high court order.

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing CBI, had earlier said that Wadhawan suffered from no serious medical ailments. He reiterated that huge amounts of money were siphoned off in the case.

The Wadhawan brothers -- Kapil and Dheeraj-- were arrested in this case on July 2022 following an FIR registered on a complaint made by the Union Bank of India which alleged that DHFL's then chairman-cum-managing director Kapil Wadhawan, then director Dheeraj Wadhawan, and other accused entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium of 17 banks led by the Union Bank of India.

The complaint said as part of the criminal conspiracy, the accused and others induced the consortium to sanction huge loans aggregating Rs 42,871.42 crore.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in October 2022 following which a court took cognisance.

Much of the amount was allegedly siphoned off through shell companies and misappropriated by alleged falsification of the books of the DHFL and dishonest default in repayment of legitimate dues of the consortium banks, the CBI claimed.

The Wadhawan brothers are accused in several other cases of fraud and money laundering filed by the Enforcement Directorate

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Monday, 4 August, denied bail to Kapil Wadhawan in an alleged Rs 34,926 crore bank fraud case, noting that his conduct during custody was "not beyond reproach".

Justice Ravinder Dudeja denied the bail, saying such economic offences were not only crimes against specific victims but against the financial system at large.

The CBI alleged that Kapil Wadhawan, as promoter and CMD of DHFL, was the principal architect of a massive financial fraud involving diversion and misappropriation of approximately Rs 34,926 crore from a consortium of 17 banks.

"It is noteworthy that the conduct of the applicant during custody has not been beyond reproach. The allegations regarding manipulation of valuable assets and transactions carried out during judicial custody are grave and suggest that the applicant continues to exercise significant control and influence," the order said.