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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Yogesh Khanna, J.
Maninder Singh - Appellant
Versus
State NCT Of Delhi - Respondent
Bail Application No. 3952 of 2020
Decided On : 05-05-2021
Bail - Financial Fraud - IPC 409/420/120B - RBI Analysis - Related Party Transactions - Corporate Governance - Discriminatory Treatment - Regular Bail Granted
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner seeks regular bail in a case involving financial fraud under IPC 409/420/120B. The complaint alleges that the accused, along with others, caused wrongful loss to a company by disbursing loans to entities with no financial standings, diverting funds, and swindling public money.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner, an employee of the company, was not a beneficiary and had no allegations of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. The court also noted that the main beneficiaries had been granted bail, and the investigation against the petitioner was complete.
Issues: The issues revolved around the petitioner's involvement in the financial transactions, his role in the risk management committee, and the discriminatory treatment by the investigating authority.
Ratio Decidendi: The court granted bail to the petitioner based on the lack of evidence implicating him, the completion of the investigation, and the absence of flight risk or tampering allegations.
Final Decision: The court granted bail to the petitioner on the condition of executing a personal bond and providing contact details, with no observations on the merits of the pending trial.
JUDGMENT
Yogesh Khanna, J. - Petitioner seeks regular bail in case FIR No.50/2019 under Section 409/420/120B IPC registered at police station EOW.
2. The complaint is made by Manpreet Singh Suri, AR-authorised representative of Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) against Malvinder Mohan Singh (MMS), Shivinder Mohan Singh (SMS), the then promoters/ directors, Sunil Godhwani, the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director, and NK Ghoshal. The AR of RFL alleges the above persons having absolute control on REL and its subsidiaries, have put RFL in poor financial condition by disbursing loans to entities having no financial standings. These entities willfully defaulted in repayments and caused wrongful loss to RFL to the tune of Rs.2397 crores. These shell companies/entities were controlled by above persons.
3. It is further the case of prosecution the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pointed out such discrepancies in its analysis viz. the top borrowers of RFL, under Corporate Loan Book(CLB) portfolio, were related entities; there is inter linkage between the borrowers as funds were routed from one borrower to another; and the loan amounts ultimately are coming to the group companies of RFL.
4. It is alleged Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh were major shareholders till June 2017 and remained in control of the companies till February 2018 when after the companies were taken over by the new management and then it was revealed the complainant had suffered a wrongful loss to the tune of Rs.2397 crores. It is alleged, the alleged promoters viz Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh in conspiracy with Sunil Godhwani, CA had swindled the public money to the tune of Rs.2397 Crores. It is stated the total standalone net -worth (Aggregate of Share Capital, Reserves & Surplus) of REL as on 31.02.2018 stood at Rs.2,328.22 crores. Its investment in RFL of Rs.2,090.34 crores comprises 89.78% of the net worth of the REL. It is alleged extremely high amount of shareholder's funds of REL has been invested in RFL and such diversion of funds to RFL causes a direct loss to the shareholders of REL.
5. During the course of investigation, a report dated 26.01.2017 from RBI was obtained which noted the entities were related entities; there was inter-linkage between the borrowers themselves; and out of 21 loans disbursed to 9 borrowers, the funds disbursed ultimately came back to the group companies of RFL; accounts of various other borrowers were used to route funds to the group companies; borrower companies had a weak financial standing with no revenue from operations; cash losses etc and loan for working capital was given when there was no business. Further, loans were given on the recommendations of the promoters as the owners of the borrowing entities had good relations with the promoters; the loans given were without any documentation, except a loan agreement/ MoU entered into between RFL and the borrower(s). The end-use of these funds is not known.
6. During the course of investigation, the accused persons namely Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Sunil Godhwani, Anil Saxena and Kavi Arora are arrested. After completion of investigation, the charge sheet is filed against them only.
7. Accused Maninder Singh was the Chief Business Officer and an appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of REL vide appointment letter dated 22.03.2017 and was a part of the Risk Management Committee along with Kavi Arora. He was designated as a Key Management Personnel on 22.03.2017 and was holding Key Managerial position in the organization and allegedly was instrumental in conspiracy with promoters Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh and Kavi Arora, CEO and MD of RFL for siphoning of the money from the complainant company to the tune of Rs.2000 crores.
8. It is also alleged by the prosecution the petitioner was well aware the entities to whom loans worth hundreds of crores were extended were not credit worthy but kept approving the loans since these
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