The Bombay High Court has granted bail to the promoters of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, in connection with a ₹4,000 crore fraud case against Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. The two individuals were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in October 2019. They were accused of conspiring with PMC bank management and staff to defraud the bank. The ED subsequently filed a case against them for money laundering.
Following their plea for bail, which had been rejected by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, Justice S.M. Modak granted bail to the Wadhawans. They have been directed to provide a surety of ₹5 lakh each for both cases.
The primary reason for granting bail, according to the high court, was the extended period of incarceration and the delay in the trial. The Wadhawans’ counsel argued that a senior bank official and co-accused had also been granted bail in the case. Citing parity, the court considered the release of the PMC bank’s chairperson on bail by Justice M.S. Karnik.
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