2023:DHC:2994

BAIL APPLN. 251/2023

Page 1 of 53

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Date of decision: 03 May, 2023

+

BAIL APPLN. 251/2023 & CRL.M.(BAIL) 115/2023, CRL.M.A.

2074/2023, CRL.M.A. 2470/2023

ASHISH MITTAL

..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr. N. Hariharan, Senior Advocate

with Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Mr.

Shikhar Sharma, Mr. Kartik Venu,

Mr. Punya Rekha Angara, Mr.

Prateek Bhalla and Mr. Mohammed

Qasim, Advocates.

versus

SERIOUS FRAUD INVESTIGATION OFFICE ..... Respondent

Through:

Mr. Ajay Digpaul, CGSC for SFIO

with Mr Arib Ansari, prosecuter for

SFIO, Mr. Harvinder IO for SFIO

alongwith Ms. Shivani Sharma, Ms.

Ikshita Singh, Mr. Kamal Digpaul

and Ms. Swati Kwatra, Advocates.

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI

J U D G M E N T

ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI J.

By way of the present petition filed under section 439 of the

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 („Cr.P.C.‟ for short) read with

section 212(6) of the Companies Act, 2013, the petitioner seeks

regular bail in criminal complaint case bearing Ct. Case No. 990/2022

filed by the respondent/Serious Fraud Investigation Office („SFIO‟ for

short). The criminal complaint alleges offences under sections

Digitally Signed

By:NEERAJ

Signing Date:03.05.2023

10:52:00

Signature Not Verified

2023:DHC:2994

BAIL APPLN. 251/2023

Page 2 of 53

420/120B of the Indian Penal Code 1860 („IPC‟ for short), sections

211/628/227/233 of the Companies Act, 1956 („1956 Act‟ for short)

and sections 129/447/448 of the Companies Act, 2013 („2013Act‟ for

short).

2.

Notice on this petition was issued on 25.01.2023; whereupon reply

has been filed by the SFIO by way of counter affidavit dated

03.02.2023. Both parties have also filed their respective written

submissions in the matter.

3.

The court has heard Mr. N. Hariharan, learned senior counsel and Mr.

Tanveer Ahmed Mir, learned counsel on behalf of the petitioner. The

court has also heard Mr. Ajay Digpaul, learned Central Government

Standing Counsel on behalf of the SFIO.

BRIEF OVERVIEW

4.

M/s. Educomp Solutions Ltd. („ESL‟ for short) was incorporated in

the year 1994. One Shantanu Prakash was its managing director and

his father Jagdish Prakash was a whole-time director. In 2013 ESL

faced a severe liquidity crunch for various reasons and had to

therefore opt for Corporate Debt Restructuring („CDR‟ for short) vide

Master Restructuring Agreement dated 25.03.2014 („MRA‟ for short)

signed with the consortium of lenders (banks) led by the State Bank

of Patiala (which bank has later merged with State Bank of India).

5.

Vide order dated 17.08.2018 bearing No. 1/52/2017 the Ministry of

Corporate Affairs assigned the investigation into the affairs of ESL to

the SFIO. After commencement of investigation against ESL,

approval was also obtained for investigation into the affairs of two

other

companies

M/s.

Educomp

Infrastructure

and

School

Digitally Signed

By:NEERAJ

Signing Date:03.05.2023

10:52:00

Signature Not Verified

2023:DHC:2994

BAIL APPLN. 251/2023

Page 3 of 53

Management Ltd („EISML‟ for short) and M/s. Edu Smart Services

Pvt. Ltd. („ESSPL‟ for short), both of which are subsidiaries of ESL.

6.

After a detailed investigation in the matter, the SFIO has filed a

prosecution complaint under section 439(2)/436/212 of the 2013 Act,

which is the equivalent of a chargesheet, arraigning 70 persons as

accused. Of the accused, 15 are corporate entities and 55 are various

persons alleged to have been associated with ESL and other

subsidiary companies in various ways.

RELEVANT FACTUAL MATRIX

7.

The factual matrix that is relevant for purposes of the present petition

is that as part of the CDR proposal for ESL, its m