Mumbai: The special CBI court has refused to discharge builder Satyan Tandon, who has been booked for his alleged role in connection with the DHFL – Yes bank case, observing that it is a premature stage.
CBI had arrested Tandon on May 27, 2022 and was granted bail on July 16, 2022. Tandon had thereafter sought discharge claiming that he has no links with the alleged loan given by Yes bank to DHFL.
Prosecution’s Allegations
The prosecution had claimed that Sanjay Chhabariaa, after availing a loan of Rs 900 Crores from DHFL in his company Summer Radius Realty Pvt Ltd, diverted Rs.4 Crores on August 07, 2018 to M/s Wizard Construction India Pvt.Ltd. (WCIPL) -a company of Tandon, which was allegedly used by him for personal benefits and to pay Rs 10 lakhs to one of his directors Rajkumar Kandaswamy.
Loan Transactions Under Scrutiny
The prosecution had further alleged that Deed of Assignment dated August 10, 2018 executed by WCIPL in favor of Belief Realtors Private Limited (Belief Realtors), a group company of Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhawan, assigning its rights in a slum rehabilitation project at Bandra and on the strength of the said Deed of Assignments, Belief Realtors was successful in disbursal of loan of Rs 750 crores from Yes Bank Limited (Yes Bank) on September 28, 2018.
Defence Argument
Tandon’s lawyer had contended that it is alleged that Tandon’s rights in the said project were purchased by Belief Realtors prior to the disbursal of Rs 750 crores itself and consequently, it is alleged that Tandon had no knowledge or interest in the said loan. It was further claimed that the allegation in respect to receipt of an amount of Rs 4 Crores was part of the normal business transaction.
Initially the loan proposal for sanction of Rs 1600 Crores was initiated in the name of WCIPL, Tandon’s firm, but later on in June, 2018 the borrower company was changed to M/s Belief Realtors Pvt. Ltd. The prosecution has claimed that the evidence on record shows that the Tandon was actively involved in obtaining Rs 750 Crores from Yes Bank in order to defraud it. Further subsequently in the year 2020, he allegedly created bogus documents in order to justify the diversion of funds by him, CBI claimed.
Court’s Observations
The court while refusing to discharge Tandon, said that, “It is specifically alleged that the loan amount was not used for the development of said Bandra SRA Project but diverted by the accused persons for their own personal gains. It is specifically alleged that the SRA project cannot be transferred without permission of the company authority. It is specifically mentioned that the role and criminality of applicant/accused is related to Bandra SRA Project and diversion of Rs 750 Crores by way of loan from Yes Bank and he got benefited of Rs 4 Crores from the other loan.”
“It is specifically mentioned that initially the loan proposal for sanction of Rs 1600 Crores was initiated in the name of M/s WCIPL but later on June 22, 2018, the borrower company was changed to M/s BRPL. It is specifically mentioned that the Joint Venture Agreement of 2014 of M/s WCIPL with M/s RIPD was cancelled on September 18, 2018 and a Deed of Assignment dated August 10, 2018 with M/s BRPL was signed by M/s WCIPL on the direction of accused Dheeraj Wadhawan with a motive to utilize the same for the purpose of submitting it in M/s YBL in support of their application for grant of loan of Rs 1600 Crores towards development of Bandra Reclamation Project,” the court has noted.
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Criminal Conspiracy Angle
Further it is observed that, “The aspect of criminal conspiracy is required to be decided on the basis of evidence and the circumstances of the case. According to prosecution, the applicant is the beneficiary of the criminal offence and he has also participated in preparing backdated documents to create a false record to show that Farid Sama was a broker for the SRA project at Colaba. Considering the prosecution case, the charge sheet, the supplementary charge sheets, the documents on record and the statements of witnesses, at this premature stage, it cannot be said that there are no sufficient grounds for proceeding against the applicant/accused or to frame charges against him.”
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