Bhushan Steel ex-promoter's challenge to SFIO's arrest powers not frivolous: HC

The Delhi High Court said today that on the face of it, it does not find "frivolous" the plea by Bhushan Steel's erstwhile promoter Neeraj Singal, arrested for allegedly siphoning off funds worth over Rs 20 billion, against the powers of arrest of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

"Prima facie we do not think the challenge is frivolous," a bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said while reserving its decision on Singal's interim application for release from judicial custody.

The court said it will pronounce its decision on Singal's interim application on August 29.

During the nearly three-hour-long arguments in the matter, the SFIO opposed any interim relief to Singal, saying that given the seriousness and magnitude of the offence he was accused of and his antecedents, he was not entitled to be released from custody.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Acharya termed the alleged offence as "economic terrorism", saying siphoning off Rs 2,000 crore would affect the common man in the same manner as a terrorist attack.

The ASG said in the past he had allegedly attempted to bribe a senior officer of State Bank of India. A case has been lodged in this connection and proceedings were going on in a trial court.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Singal, said he was granted bail in the SBI matter in 2014 by a CBI court.

The ASG also argued that he might "hamper" the investigation by influencing the witnesses by bribing them.

However, she could not give any instances of when he had hampered any investigation when the court sought such information.

The ASG said that Singal's father was also accused of bribery in the past, in response to which the bench asked, "So if father is involved (in bribery), so will the son? Is this some pious Hindu law or obligation?"