The court denied anticipatory bail despite the applicant's health condition due to serious allegations of multi-victim fraud, emphasizing the need for custodial interrogation to uncover financial misconduct.

JUDGMENT

Anu Malhotra, J. The applicant, vide the present application seeks the grant of anticipatory bail in relation to FIR No. 59/2019, dated 4.4.2019 P.S. Economic Offences Wing, registered under Sections 406/420/120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The applicant submits that he is a senior citizen aged 65 years and a retired government servant with a clean record having served the Irrigation department for 33 years. The applicant further submitted that he is a patient of prostate cancer stage 4(Bone, LN) and has been undergoing the treatment after surgery in 2019 vide patient ID no. 300061505 with the Action Cancer Hospital, New Delhi and had been admitted in the hospital for Chemotherapy on 20.1.2021 and thereafter chemotherapy was to be done on 17.02.2021 as per the written submissions that had been submitted on 8.2.2021.

2. inter alia the applicant submits that he having joined the investigation and as he is not likely to abscond, custodial interrogation should be avoided in as much as great ignominy, humiliation and disgrace is attached to arrest.

3. The applicant submits that he is a non-executive Director in M/s Prabhu Shanti Real Estate Pvt. Ltd. and that the allegations levelled against this Real Estate Company (hereinafter referred to as `the company') are to the effect that it had not delivered flats within the stipulated period of time and some part of the money got transferred into the accounts of its directors. The applicant submits that he has not been the beneficiary of any proceeds and has also not been involved in the day-to-day affairs of `the company'. inter alia, the applicant submits that neither the prosecution nor the complainant have produced any documents to show the involvement of the applicant in the day-to-day affairs of the said company. The applicant has further submitted that he is on the Board of Directors only in `the company' and not in any other subsidiary and/or sister concerns and that he has joined the investigation on 22.08.2019, 5.10.2019 and 12.10.2019 and fully cooperated with Investigating Officer and even after the order dated 24.11.2020 of this Court directing him to join the investigation, the applicant joined the investigation on 7.12.2020 whereafter he has not received any notice for joining the investigation. The applicant has further submitted that he is the brother-in-law of other directors of `the company' and has clear antecedents with no criminal history.

4. The applicant/petitioner further submits that `the company' is in insolvency proceedings before the NCLT and that the entire record is in the custody of the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) appointed by the NCLT vide order dated 13.06.2018.

5. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of the complainant Suman Solanki. It was averred therein that the complainant paid Rs.59,93,189/- to the builder/real estate company M/s Prabhu Shanti Real Estate Pvt. Ltd.(i.e. `the company') who had promised in the year 2012 to provide a flat to her within two and a half years but had failed to do so and had rather cheated her and duped her of her hard earned money which those persons were not returning to her with interest nor providing her a flat but had threatened her and other home buyers with dire consequences qua their lives and that of their family members apart from suffering an irreparable loss if they dared to ask for the return of the money or a flat.

6. It has been averred in the FIR that in the year 2008,`the company' announced a residential project "P.D.M. Hi-Tech Homes" consisting of m