Niranjan Hiranandani granted interim anticipatory bail

Hiranandani Group director, Niranjan Hiranandani, against whom CBI had issued a look-out notice in connection with an alleged over Rs 9 crore Provident Fund scam, was today granted interim anticipatory bail by a special court.

CBI had yesterday issued look-out notices to all airports in the country against Niranjan and his brother Surendra, another director of the group. The duo has been named as accused in an FIR lodged by CBI on March 29, 2008 for an alleged fraud in provident fund deposits.

Special CBI Judge S P Hayatnagarkar granted Niranjan interim bail on a bond of Rs one lakh till August 13 by when CBI has been directed to file its reply.

The court has also directed Niranjan to not leave the country and attend CBI office as and when called by the investigating agency for questioning.

"Niranjan, who was out of Mumbai, flew in immediately and approached the court seeking anticipatory bail," another director Darshan Hiranandani said.

Surendra, who is out of Mumbai, is likely to file his anticipatory bail plea tomorrow.

Niranjan's lawyer Harshad Ponda argued that both Niranjan and Surendra have been in constant touch with the CBI in connection with the case and have even been to the agency's office several times for questioning.

According to the Anti-Corruption wing of CBI, Hiranandani group had not deposited provident fund of their employees in 2003-04.

The alleged non-payment, as per a report filed by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its departmental enquiry, is to the tune of Rs 9.36 crore.

Apart from the two directors, two employees of the group and four officers from EPFO have also been shown as accused in the case.

A special CBI court had last week granted anticipatory bail to two employees - Joseph Reddy, the general manager, and Cyrus Pithawala, the project director of the company.