Court asks police to inform if it needed custody of banker

A special court has asked Delhi Police to inform it whether it required to arrest a private bank official, who is in custody in connection with a case of demonetisation fraud lodged by the Enforcement Directorate, in a separate case registered by it.
"In view of the above, Investigating Officer to report whether arrest of accused is required in the present case. To come up on January 16," Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry said.
The court passed the order on a plea by 32-year-old Vineet Gupta, suspended branch manager of Axis Bank's Kashmere Gate branch here and presently in judicial custody, seeking to surrender in a related case lodged by the police.

Gupta in his plea had submitted that the court should issue his production warrant for his appearance before it from jail, saying he wanted to surrender in the cheating case lodged by Delhi Police to show his "bonafide".
He claimed he had not committed any offence and had nothing to do with the case lodged by Delhi Police which has also added provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against him as no case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was made out against him.
"The accused is not a public servant within the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act," the application said.

The prosecutor, however, opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable as the accused was already in judicial custody in the case lodged by ED so the issue of surrendering in the Delhi Police case does not arises at this stage.

ED had lodged a criminal complaint against two bankers and others based on a Delhi Police FIR after three persons were intercepted with Rs 3.7 crore in old currency notes a few days ago in front of the bank's Kashmere Gate branch.
Gupta, Rajeev Singh Kushwaha, suspected to be the mastermind behind floating of shell companies, and 33-year-old Shobit Sinha, suspended manager (operations) in the bank, are lodged under judicial custody till January 23 for alleged irregularities related to conversion of old currency and supply of new notes.

ED has claimed the probe has found that Rs 39 crore in cash was in question and several companies were involved in the case. It had said a gold brick worth Rs 39 lakh had been recovered from Sinha while another is yet to be found, which were agreed to be taken as commission.
It had claimed that Kushwaha "used the identity documents of various persons to form shell companies" through which cash deposits of Rs 39 crore were made between November 10 and November 22 in "close connivance" with the two bank managers.