CBI court reserves anticipatory bail plea order in Rs 2,654-cr fraud case

A special CBI court today reserved its order on an anticipatory bail plea moved by the officials of Vadodara-based Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL), which is accused of cheating banks to the tune of Rs 2,654 crore.

The court of special CBI judge N G Dave reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of brothers Amit Bhatnagar and Sumit Bhatnagar, directors in the firm, and their father, Suresh Bhatnagar, the promoter of the firm, for Tuesday.

The accused had sought anticipatory bail, claiming that there was no FIR against them and that the CBI, on its own, could not file one.

They submitted that the banks, from which they allegedly took loans and defaulted, had not filed a case either, adding that the CBI was acting on the basis of oral information.

The CBI opposed the plea, saying the offence was a serious one and related to a "heinous crime of systematic corruption".

The central probe agency said the accused, if let out on bail, could tamper with evidence, influence witnesses and flee from justice.

The CBI has alleged that DPIL, which manufactures electric cables and equipment, through its management, had fraudulently availed credit facilities from a consortium of 11 banks (both public and private banks, led by Bank of India) since 2008, leaving behind an outstanding debit of Rs 2,654.40 crore as on June 29, 2016.

It has also alleged that the company and its directors managed to get term loans and credit facilities, despite the fact that they were named in the Reserve Bank of India's defaulters list and the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation's caution list at the time of the initial sanction of credit limits by the consortium.

It has alleged that the firm, with active connivance of officials from various banks, managed to get enhanced credit facilities.