SHUATS fraud case: HC refuses to stay arrest of bank official

The Allahabad High Court today refused to stay the arrest of a senior officer of Axis Bank in Sam Higginbottom University funds misappropriation case amounting to approximately Rs 23 crores.
The order was passed by bench of Chief Justice D B Bhosale and Justice M K Gupta on the petition of the bank officer, Deepak Kumar Verma.
Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) is a deemed university located at Naini, Allahabad.
In May 2016, an FIR was registered at civil lines police station against several bank and SHUATS employees for alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 23 crores between 2013 and 2016.

The case was registered on a complaint by Axis Bank Assistant Vice President Yogesh Vajpayee.
Earlier, the bail application of University Registrar Robin L Prasad and Finance Comptroller B S Lall was already rejected by High Court on the ground of their direct involvement in the matter.
The bank had doubted the authenticity of some of the transactions and asked the university to verify the same, the two officers issued reconciliation certificate and verified the fraudulent transactions.
Apart from Verma, some other accused, who were employees of SHUATS and Axis Bank, have also approached the High Court and their petitions will be heard on December 18.