Bombay High Court Grants Bail To HDIL Promoters Sarang And RK Wadhawan In PMLA Case

The Bombay High Court granted bail to the promoters of HDIL (Housing Development & Infrastructure Limited) Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan in bank fraud case.

The two had filed criminal bail applications against the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) seeking bail for the offence under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

A Single Bench of Justice S.M. Modak ordered, “They are directed not to leave the State of Maharashtra unless any justifiable reason is there and that too, with taking prior permission of trial Court. … They are directed to surrender the passport to the EOW/ED, if they have not earlier surrendered.”

Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda appeared on behalf of the applicants while APP S.V. Gavand appeared on behalf of the respondents.

In this case, the accused persons were arrested in connection with an offence punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of PMLA. The case was pending before the Designated Special Court under PMLA Act.

The High Court, therefore, directed, “They are directed not to threaten the Prosecution witnesses and allure them in any manner. … They are directed to attend the trial Court punctually.”

The Court said that the accused be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and surety bond of Rs. 5 lakhs.

It added that the Registrar General shall interact with the Principal Judge, City Civil Court about pending matters involving under PML Act and scheduled offences (on the aspect of availability of staff and deputation of requisite number of Judges and connected issue).

After pronouncement of the order, the senior counsel for the applicants requested that for limited duration, cash bail be allowed as it will take time for arranging the surety. The same was opposed by the counsel for the respondents.

The Court in that regard observed, “The prayer for cash bail cannot be allowed. There is a purpose behind insisting for surety bail and that too, heavy surety. Because, the presence has to be secured. Hence, it is rejected.”

Accordingly, the High Court granted bail to the accused and disposed of the bail applications.

Cause Title- Sarang Wadhawan v. Directorate of Enforcement (Neutral Citation: 2024:BHC-AS:16323)

Appearance:

Applicants: Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, Advocates Chandansingh Shekhawat, Subhash Jadhav, Yashovardhan Deshmukh, Harshad Nimbalkar, Hrishikesh Chitaley, Ashish Verma, Sagar Shetty, Satyam Nimbalkar, Abhishek Arote, Sonia Redkar, Shraddha Nagaonkar, Akshay Naik, and R. Chhabra.

Respondents: APP S.V. Gavand, Advocates Hitesh S. Venegavkar, and Ayush Kedia.

Click here to read/download the Order