Special court denies anticipatory bail to YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor

A special court here on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor in a cheating and criminal conspiracy case registered against him by the CBI.

Kapoor is currently in a judicial custody after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a related case.

He had moved the anticipatory bail application before the special CBI court in June.

During the pendency of Kapoor's plea, the central agency had filed its chargesheet in the case.

Kapoor's lawyer submitted that since the chargesheet in the has been filed and the agency has made prayer for issuance of summons, there was no need for Kapoor's custodial interrogation.

However, the public prosecutor argued that while submitting the chargesheet, the agency had obtained permission for further investigation about the role of YES Bank officials.

He also submitted that since it was a serious economic offence, no ground exists for granting him anticipatory bail.

Accepting the central probe agency's submission, special court judge S U Wadgaonkar rejected Kapoor's plea.

Considering the facts of the case, the applicant (Kapoor) is principal accused and played active in the crime in question, out of which multi-crore bank fraud was committed, the court observed.

According to the CBI, Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan for extending financial assistance to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) through Yes Bank.

The scam took place between April and June 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit DHFL, it said.

In return, Wadhawan allegedly "paid kickback of Rs 600 crore" to Kapoor in the form of loans to DoIT Urban Ventures, a firm controlled by Kapoor''s wife and daughters, the CBI hadsaid.