Delhi High Court grants relief to a businessman in a fraud case

Delhi High Court grants relief to a businessman in a fraud case

The Delhi High Court in by its single judge Justice Jasmeet Singh in the matter of Manoj Jayaswal vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another (hereinafter referred to CBI), granted interim relief for industrialist Manoj Jayaswal who was booked by CBI last December in an alleged Rs. 4,000 crore bank loan fraud, and further directed the CBI to give him advance notice of seven working days it needs his custodial interrogation.

A plea was moved by Jayaswal seeking quashing of the CBI's FIR. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal appearing on Jayaswal's behalf, contended that there was not only an inordinate delay in registering the FIR, but it was also riddled with inconsistencies.

There was an "inexplicable delay" of over nine years in the registration of the FIR after the loan account of Jayaswal's company and it was announced as 'non-performing asset,' (in short NPA) upon which the CBI took a further of 2 years to register the FIR which had severely prejudiced the rights, contended the Advocate.

It was alleged that there was full of "patent illegalities" in the procedure adopted for the registration of the FIR. It was also pointed out that there was an October 2020 interim order from a Nagpur court, restraining the consortium of banks from approaching the CBI for registration of an FIR.

The CBI had lodged an FIR against Jayaswals' company Corporate Power Ltd and tweleve other back in December, 2022 accusing him for duping the bank consortium of Rs. 4,000 crore. While the loan was termed as NPA in 2013, the account was declared 'fraud' in October, 2019.

In its order, the High Court remarked the delay in filing the FIR and the Nagpur Court's order for its direction to the CBI and stated and this ruling shall not be treated as a condition precedent in any other. The Court directed the CBI to respond to Jayaswal's petition within six weeks.