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TMI Blog2023 (10) TMI 1369X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere transferred from Jagat Overseas account to the account of JACPL and Rs. 552.41 crores was received back from JACPL to Jagat Overseas . Prima facie, this may be a transaction squaring up of the amount credited and debited. In prima facie opinion, there is a reasonable ground to believe that the offence punishable under Section 447 of the said Act may not be attracted in the present case. The applicant is 63 years of age. It is thus seen that the applicant needs constant medical treatment. No doubt the same is available and provided to the applicant at Sir J. J. Hospital and in prison hospital. However, there are no hesitation in opining that the applicant needs constant medical attention considering his age and ailment. The age and medical condition of the applicant is one of the circumstance which is taken into consideration for enlarging the applicant on bail. Though it is stated that the applicant is willing to furnish a surety having valuation of upto Rs. 5 crores for the purpose of releasing him on bail, on behalf of the applicant, learned counsel on instructions of the applicant through his son who is personally present in the Court submitted that a sum of Rs. 5 crores wil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tention of learned senior advocate for the applicant that the bank auditors carried out repeated physical verification and vide reports dated 12/2/2014, 5/12/2024, 15/6/2015 and 8/10/2025 categorically verified the physical existence of the godowns and the value of the stocks. It is submitted that last of the Forensic Audit Report dated 8/10/2015 found the losses incurred by JACPL in the year 2014-2015 to be genuine and also found no diversion of funds. While adjudicating a lis arising out of a dispute between two shareholder groups, that is Pawa Group and Aggarwal Group in JACPL, the Company Law Board ( CLB for short) directed SFIO to file a report with respect to the position of stock. An assertion was made by Pawa Group that stock worth Rs. 201 crores was in the godowns. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs passed a formal order on 7/3/2016 in exercise of its powers under Section 212 (1) (c) of the said Act assigned the investigation into the affairs of JAPCL to SFIO. According to learned senior advocate, the order of the CLB was misinterpreted. 4. On 18/4/2016 and 16/5/2016, SFIO conducted physical verification at the company s godown and submitted its status report. During verifi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... enal Code (IPC) at the instance of the bank defrauded. It is, therefore, submitted that the question is whether prosecution under Section 447 of the said Act would stand validated or not would also require adjudication at an appropriate stage. In the facts and circumstances of the present case, having regard to the view that I am inclined to take, I do not propose to delve into the aforesaid aspects of this paragraphs which could be a subject matter of consideration in appropriate proceedings. 7. Mr. Hiten Venegavkar, learned counsel for the respondent No. 1 SFIO, vehemently opposed this application. It is submitted that the applicant is facing serious accusations of financial fraud in the company and there are materials to support the accusations. It is submitted that though the company projected that it has large number of godowns, but during investigation, it is revealed that there are much lesser number of godowns. It is further submitted that the financial statements are forged and fabricated. It is submitted that the company falsely projected that it had stocks over Rs. 200 crores. However, investigation revealed that there was stock of hardly Rs. 37 crores. It is submitted t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sions of sub-section (6) of Section 212 of the said Act which reads thus:- 212(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), [offences covered under section 447] of this Act shall be cognizable and no person accused of any offence under those sections shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless- (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: PROVIDED that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs: PROVIDED FURTHER that the Special Court shall not take cognizance of any offence referred to this sub-section except upon a complaint in writing made by- (i) the Director, Serious Fraud Investigation Office; or (ii) any officer of the Central Government authorised, by a general or special order in writing in this behalf by that Government. 10. From the reco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder dated 21/7/2023 passed by this Court records that the applicant was admitted in Sir J. J. Hospital since 9/6/2023 and is being treated. The applicant s medical report dated 4/8/2023 reveals that the applicant is treated as per advise of Sir J. J. Hospital. The medical advice is for regular monitoring and better control of seizures. The report reveals that the applicant was referred to Sir J. J. Hospital on multiple occasions for various treatments. The present health status of the applicant as per the medical report is thus :- Patient continues to suffer from seizure episodes. He had 2 seizure episodes in last 15 days with 1 episode associated with fall ; he is being continued on medication as advised by Sir J. J. Hospital and symptomatic treatment from Prison Hospital. He is being kept in prison hospital for observation and supervised treatment. He complains of weakness and tingling numbness over right side of body, pain and difficulty to get up from ground. He suffers from recurrent urinary tract infection and difficulty in micturition. He has been recently diagnosed with severe Antral Gastritis and sessile polyp (benign tumor). 14. The applicant is 63 years of age. It is th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nior advocate submitted that the applicant is now in custody for more than 18 months. Placing reliance on Section 447 of the said Act it is submitted that the maximum punishment for the offence is imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to ten years. Prima facie, I am of the opinion that having regard to the nature of the accusations made in the case at hand, as per the first proviso to Section 447 of the said Act, the alleged fraud in question involves public interest, for which the term of imprisonment shall not be less than three years. However, the circumstance that the applicant has undergone custody as an undertrial for more than 18 months which period is equivalent to half of the minimum punishment for the offence, is the another circumstance which I am inclined to consider in favour of the applicant for enlarging him on bail. 17. One more aspect which needs consideration is an affidavit of the applicant s son which has been filed on his behalf which records thus:- AFFIDAVIT OF THE APPLICANT S SON ON HIS BEHALF I, Gaurav Aggarwal, Aged 37 years, son of Shri Sant Lal Aggarwal, presently residing at J-401, 4th floor, DLF City, Ambie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Lal Aggarwal Smt. Sudha Pawa. Rs. 1.32 Crores 4. Land and Building measuring 2 Bigha 3 Biswas (2167 sq. yds) (out of Khasra No. 11/19), situated at Village Singhu (near Delhi Haryana Boarder) in the name of Shri Sant Lal Aggarwal and Smt. Sudha Pawa. Rs. 2.75 Crores 5. Land Buildingat Plot measuring 2 Bigha 3 Biswas (2167 sq. yds) (out of Khasra No. 11/20) situated at Village Singhu (near Delhi Haryana Boarder) in the name of Shri Sant Lal Aggarwal Smt. Sudha Pawa. Rs. 2.75 Crores 6. Land Building at Plot measuring 1 Bigha 3 Biswas (out of Khasra No. 11/2) (1159 sq. yds) situated at Village Singhu (near Delhi Haryana Boarder) in the name of Shri Sant Lal Aggarwal Smt. Sudha Pawa. Rs. 1.52 Crores 7 Land Building at Plot measuring 1 Bigha 3 Biswas) (1159 sq. yds (out of Khasra No. 11/2) situated at Village Singhu (near Delhi Haryana Boarder) in the name of Shri Sant Lal Aggarwal Smt. Sudha Pawa. Rs. 1.52 Crores 8 Two story building with basement on a plot area of 202.28 sq. metres (241.92 sq. yds) at GD-19, Pitampura, New Delhi in name of JACPL. Rs. 9.11 Crores 9 Land building on Plot measuring 15 Bighas 10 Biswas (Farm House) situated at Revenue Estate of Village Khera Kalan, Nangt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s investigations under PMLA vide ECIR /14/MBZO-1/2021 dated 31.3.2021. During the process of such investigations, the ED has since provisionally attached the following assets vide PAO No. 17/2022 dated 24.11.2022, which was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority vide order dated 10.05.2023 in OC 1859/2022: Sr. Description of Property Valuation taken by ED 1. Flat No. 819, 8th floor, Amba Deep Building, 14 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi measuring 562 Sq. Ft. in the name of JACPL. 15,18,173/- 2 Flat No. 801, 8th floor, Amba Deep Building, 14 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi measuring 360 Sq. Ft. in the name of JACPL. 21,00,000/- 3 Flat No. 802, 8th floor, Amba Deep Building, 14 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi measuring 456 Sq. Ft. in the name of JACPL. 12,31,827/- 4 Flat No. 803, 8th floor, Amba Deep Building, 14 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi measuring 445 Sq. Ft. in the name of JACPL. 2,33,62,500/- 5 Office Space No. 328, D. Mall, Plot No. 1B5, Twin District Centre, Sector 10, Rohini, Delhi 110 085 (Lease hold property) in the name of M/s. Jagat Overseas. 17,01,35,000/- 6 Office Space No. 321, D. Mall, Plot No. 1B5, Twin District Centre, Sector 10, Rohini, Delhi 110 085 (Lease ho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... company to expediate your request in the system. Please, Cooperate 10. That the Applicant or his family would have absolutely no objection for the bank to dispose of the aforementioned assets so as to realize its dues. 11. That the Applicant and his family members including his wife and two sons namely Gaurav Aggarwal and Saurav Aggarwal stand as guarantors in JACPL wherein bank has already initiated recovery proceedings since 2017. It is humbly submitted that majority of including as well as individual assets are already auctioned and the remaining proceedings against all the family members are undertaken by SBI. 12. That it is humbly submitted that during the course of hearing of SA/40/2018 titled as Jagat Agro Commodities Pvt. Ltd. V/s State Bank of India pending adjudication before Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT-III), New Delhi, respective statements have been made by the counsel for the Company and the bank accepting that the likelihood of matter being finally settled with the Bank, in this context, the relevant contents of the order 08.08.2023, passed by the DRT relevant extract of the order reads as under: 3.Ld. Counsel for S. applicant submitted that the matter is under settle ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the applicant, learned counsel on instructions of the applicant through his son who is personally present in the Court submitted that a sum of Rs. 5 crores will be deposited with the Special Court by way of Fixed Deposit in the name of the concerned Registrar/ Superintendent of the Special Court within a period of two months from the date of the applicant s enlargement on bail. The statement is accepted as an undertaking to this Court. The affidavit to that effect be filed by the applicant in this Court before his release. Registry to accept. The said deposit will abide by the orders passed by the Special Court. 19. The applicant is in custody for more than 18 months with no possibility of the trial concluding any time soon. The investigation is complete. The charge-sheet has been filed. There are no criminal antecedents reported against the applicant. The applicant does not appear to be a flight risk. Further incarceration will only be by way of a pre-trial punishment. Hence, the following order :- ORDER (a) The application is allowed. (b) The applicant- Sant Lal Aggarwal in connection with C.R. No. SFIO/INV/JACPL/473/2016 registered with Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Mumba ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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