Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor granted bail in money laundering case | Mumbai News
Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor granted bail in money laundering case | Mumbai News
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A SPECIAL court on Thursday granted bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in connection with a case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in which he faced his first arrest in March 2020. Kapoor will however continue to remain behind bars in connection with another case filed by CBI in which his bail application is pending.
Special Judge M G Deshpande granted Kapoor relief under section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code, noting he had been in jail for 3 years, 9 months and 13 days in the case and that the trial had not yet begun. The section has provisions for bail to an undertrial prisoner who has spent more than one half of the maximum possible sentence in jail. The maximum punishment Kapoor faces in this case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is seven years.
“…it has to be noted that while suffering such undue incarceration, the applicant (A1) (Kapoor) has already undergone the minimum sentence without trial. As on today he (A1) is deemed to have been convicted with more than the period of minimum punishment, that too without framing charge and without trial,” the court said. It also said Kapoor was 66 years of age and a senior citizen.
Kapoor was arrested on March 8, 2020, by the ED on allegations that he had received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 600-crore through a company linked to his family, in lieu of loans given by Yes Bank to infrastructure company, Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL). The ED had claimed that as the then MD and CEO of the bank, Kapoor had misused his financial position to gain undue benefit for him, his family members and associates and it was a serious economic offence.
Kapoor through his lawyers Vijay Aggarwal and Rahul Agarwal had submitted that he had already spent more than one half of the maximum term possible and there is no likelihood in the near future of the trial beginning and concluding.
“As on today the detention of the applicant (A1) (Kapoor) in judicial custody is of 3 years 9 months and 13 days and admittedly trial has not yet begun,” the court said, adding that while the right to bail under section 436A is not absolute, the court has to take into consideration whether the delay is caused by the accused and give reasons in writing on why the detention should continue. The court has reproduced roznamas or notes of the proceedings held in the case from 2020 till date, running into 207 dates and said that the delay in the trial cannot be blamed on Kapoor. It said that the ED too had not made any submission that the delay in the trial was caused by him.
“…the basic principle of law is that an accused is to be supposed innocent unless his guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt. In case, in future if accused is acquitted, what about his undue incarceration amounting to the minimum sentence which he has undergone for no reasons? This is really a serious question,” the court said. It added that the CBI which is the agency conducting the probe in the scheduled offence linked to the ED case and the ED itself have cited over 250 witnesses in all, they are continuing to state that the probe is being conducted, which means that the trials cannot be concluded within a short period.
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