How much time is needed for completing probe into siphoning of RFL funds, SC asks police
The Supreme Court Friday asked Delhi Police how much time it needed to complete the probe in a case in which former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh is accused of allegedly misappropriating about Rs 2,400 crore from Religare Finvest Ltd fund.
How much time does it take to complete the probe in a criminal case? The accused cannot be kept in jail without trial, a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana observed, asking the police to respond.
The bench, which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, took note of the submissions of senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Singh, that the accused has been in jail since October 2019 and the charges are still to be framed.
The bench, which initially asked Singh to wait for some more time before pressing for the bail as the charges were grave, later issued notice to Delhi Police after Luthra said that other accused, who are very much traceable, have not been arrested and it has been said that investigation is still going on.
On being told that Singh is accused of siphoning of over Rs 2,000 crore, the senior lawyer said that the accused in the 2G scam case were granted bail by the apex court.
Issue notice to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to respond and inform as to how much time it will take in conducting the investigation, the bench ordered.
Singh has moved the top court against the June 14 order of the Delhi High Court cancelling the bail granted to him by the trial court in the case.
The high court’s single-judge order by Justice Suresh Kait had said that the accused’s detention was necessary to unearth the “conspiracy hatched by him” and trace the siphoned off money.
The high court verdict had come on the plea of RFL challenging the March 3 order of the trial court granting bail to Shivinder in the case registered against him by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.
Allowing RFL’s plea, the high court had said that in the present case, the “nature and gravity of the accusation against respondent No.2 (Shivinder) is serious”.
The grant of bail in a case involving cheating, criminal breach of interest by an agent of such a large magnitude of money, affecting a very large number of people would also have an adverse impact not only on the progress of the case but also on the trust of the criminal justice system that people repose, it had said.
“Keeping in mind the factual matrix of the present case as also the pertinent observations of the Supreme Court in various decisions, I have no hesitation to hold that the impugned order suffers from serious infirmities, resulting in miscarriage of justice.
“Moreover, continued detention of respondent No.2 in this FIR case is necessary not only to unearth the conspiracy hatched by him, but also to derive out/ trace the siphoned money which he has credited for his personal benefit,” the high court had said.
The EOW of Delhi Police registered an FIR in March 2019 after it received a complaint from RFL’s Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, former CMD of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) Sunil Godhwani and former CEO of RFL Kavi Arora and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.
According to the prosecution, RFL’s authorised representative Manpreet Suri alleged that these accused put RFL in poor financial condition by disbursing loans to entities having no financial standings and willfully defaulted on repayments causing loss of Rs 2,397 crore to RFL.
