Realtor Bhosale to be kept at CBI guest house as court fails to decide on remand plea due to time constraint

A special court here on Friday directed that Avinash Bhosale, chairman of Pune-based real estate group ABIL, be kept at CBI's guest house in Mumbai till May 30 as it couldn't pass an order on the probe agency's plea seeking his remand, a day after arresting him in an alleged corruption case, since hearing went beyond working hours.

A decision on remand plea also could not be taken as the CBI sought time to file a written reply to objections raised by the realtor on the legality of his arrest.

Bhosale was arrested on Thursday by the central probe agency in an alleged corruption case involving Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and Kapil Wadhawan of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL). The CBI suspects illicit funds were routed through several real estate firms based in Maharashtra.

The CBI produced him before special judge DP Singhade on Friday and sought his remand for ten days, arguing his custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth deep-rooted conspiracy linked to the case and to ascertain the end use of public funds allegedly diverted by the businessman.

The central agency told the court investigation in the case was continuing and a number of documents are to be collected from various authorities and witnesses from different strata of the society are to be examined.

''Avinash Nivritti Bhosale is required for confrontation with the incriminating evidence emerging against him and also with the witnesses/suspects in the case,'' the agency said in its remand plea.

Therefore, his detailed custodial interrogation is required in the case, which involves complex and voluminous financial transactions in a well-planned modus operandi adopted by the accused for diversion of public funds, the CBI said.

The custody was required to unearth the deep-rooted conspiracy, to ascertain the end use of the diverted public funds and related issues very relevant to the case, with permission to take the accused out of Mumbai and Maharashtra for investigation purposes, it said.

On the other hand, lawyers Vijay Agarwal, Rahul Agarwal and Dhawal Mehta, appearing for Bhosale, filed written objections, opposing the remand plea under provisions of the criminal manual issued by the Bombay High Court.

Vijay Agarwal raised a series of objections and questioned the legality of the arrest of his client.

He pointed out that after filing of the charge-sheet and supplementary charge-sheet in the case, charges have been framed against two accused.

In view of the same, it is clear that the trial in the present matter has begun, and subsequent to that no further investigation could have been conducted, Vijay Agarwal argued before the court.

The lawyer relied on several judgments of HCs and the Supreme court to drive home his arguments.

Special public prosecutor Jitendra Kumar Sharma, representing the CBI, sought time from the court to file a written reply to the objections raised by the defence lawyers. Another application was filed by the accused for certain relief if he was sent to CBI custody.

Such a plea can be decided only after an order on the remand application is delivered, the court said.

There were also heated arguments between defence and prosecution lawyers on where to keep Bhosale till the court decides on the remand plea as the accused has raised questions over the legality of his arrest.

Vijay Agarwal suggested that the accused be kept under house arrest at his residence or at a five-star hotel till May 30 under observation of the Investigating Officer of the case. The cost of hotel stay would be borne by the businessman, he said.

However, the special public prosecutor submitted that the accused may be kept at CBI's guest house at BKC, a business district in suburban Mumbai.

The defence agreed to the suggestion, but prayed that advocates may be allowed to visit him for an hour for two days.

The court, after hearing both sides, said due to peculiar circumstances and taking into account that the court time was over and also holidays on May 28 and 29 (Saturday and Sunday), the CBI is granted time till Monday for filing its reply.

The judge directed that the accused be kept at CBI's guest house as suggested by the probe agency. He allowed defence lawyers Vijay Agarwal and Dhawal Mehta to meet their client between 5 pm and 6 pm on two days (Saturday and Sunday).

Before arresting Bhosale, the CBI had carried out searches at the premises of noted builders of Maharashtra on April 30 as part of probe into the case. Premises of ABIL and Bhosale were also searched during the operation.

The CBI had recently arrested Sanjay Chhabria of Radius Developers in the case. The agency has alleged that Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Wadhawan for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018, when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short term debentures of scam-hit DHFL. In return, Wadhawan allegedly ''paid kickback of Rs 600 crore'' to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan. PTI AVI RSY RSY

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)