Money laundering case: Wadhwan brothers secure bail; Bombay HC cites long incarceration, distant trial

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court granted bail to DHFL promoters Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhwan in connection with the 2020 Yes Bank money laundering case, citing their long incarceration and the unlikelihood of the trial starting soon.

A single bench of Justice Milind Jadhav on Wednesday granted bail to the brothers on a bond of Rs 1 lakh each.

The bench said the Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters have been in custody for four years and nine months and there was no possibility of the trial commencing in the near future.

“Detaining an undertrial prisoner for such an extended period further violates his fundamental right to speedy trial flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution,” HC said.

“In my opinion, further incarceration of the applicants (Wadhwans) is not required, and they are entitled to bail without entering into the merits of the case at this stage,” the court said.

Considering the present status of the trial and the unlikelihood of it being concluded in the foreseeable future coupled with the pre-trial incarceration, the accused persons are granted bail, HC ordered.

The bench said the brothers have been booked for offences that attract a maximum punishment of seven years.

The Wadhwans have been in custody in the present case since May 2020. That is for almost four years and nine months, which is beyond half of the maximum period of imprisonment which can be imposed upon conviction, the HC said.

The court also went through the orders passed by the special court that would be conducting the trial in the case. It said the delay in the proceedings cannot be solely attributed to the applicants when “admittedly even the charges in the case have not been framed despite the Enforcement Directorate (ED) having submitted the draft charges in May 2023 itself”.

Dheeraj Wadhwan and Kapil Wadhwan had sought bail in the money laundering case registered against them in March 2020 by the ED. They have been in jail since May 2020.

The duo sought relief on the grounds of long incarceration and that they have already undergone more than half of the maximum sentence they face under the charges pressed against them.

Their counsel Amit Desai had argued that the maximum sentence that the Wadhwans face is seven years, and they have already undergone pretrial incarceration of over four years.

Desai had further submitted that the ED’s probe in the case is still pending and there was no intimation as to when the investigation would be completed, and trial would begin.

The duo submitted that they had a fundamental right to speedy justice and liberty.

The case relates to kickbacks for an alleged loan scam worth Rs 4000 crore involving Yes Bank’s founder Rana Kapoor and DHFL’s Wadhwans.

The ED had launched a money laundering probe after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case of criminal conspiracy and corruption against the Wadhwans, Kapoor and several others.