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Judgment
Applicant - Vijay Madanlal Choudhary, is being implicated in crime No.RC BD1/2014/E/008, registered at police station - CBI, BS & FC,
New Delhi, for the offence punishable under Sections 420, 468 and 471 and 120-B of IPC.
Charge sheet No.02/2015 was filed on 29.5.2015 against the applicant and two other accused persons, in the matter of availing Foreign Bank
Guarantee Limit from the Union Bank of India, by mortgaging a plot of land at Indore, on the basis of a forged ''No Objection Certificate''
purported to have been issued and signed by the lessee and his relatives thereby causing a wrongful loss of Rs.63.78 Crores to the Bank and
corresponding wrongful gain to themselves.
As per charge sheet, the applicant who is Promoter and Director of M/s. Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd (herein after referred as ''M/s. ZDPL''), in
connivance with other co-accused, hatched a conspiracy with intent and object to cheat and defraud the Union Bank of India, Andheri Branch, in
the matter of sanction and release of Foreign Guarantee limit of Rs.20 Crores, in favour of M/s. ZDPL, which was subsequently extended and
enhanced to Rs.35 Crores and also a fresh loan of Rs.28.65 Crores favouring M/s. ZVSL, on the strength of equitable mortgage of an immovable
property situated at 7, Manorma Ganj, A.B. Road, Indore, which was in possession and occupied by a lease holder whose consent / NOC for the
creation of equitable mortgage was got forged and presented to the Bank through fraudulent means stating that in the event of recall of loan/limit,
the lessee would hand over a quiet and peaceful possession of the said property. After the cognizance of the offences, the learned trial court issued
''non-bailable warrant'' against the applicant and other accused persons.
In Transfer Petition (Cri) No(s).368/2015, filed by the applicant seeking the transfer of the case from the court at Indore to the court of
competent jurisdiction at Mumbai, the Hon''ble Supreme Court stayed the further proceedings in the Transfer Case No.2/2015, arising out of FIR
No.RC/BDI/2014/E/0008, pending in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI & Economic Offences), Indore. On 1.3.2017, the Hon''ble
Supreme Court dismissed the aforesaid Transfer Petition, thereby vacating the stay on further proceedings in the instant case in the learned trial
court. Thereafter, the nonbailable warrants have been issued against the other coaccused persons. In the meantime, Enforcement Directorate,
Indore, arrested the accused applicant on 2.5.2017 and the learned trial court issued the production warrant against the applicant on 13.6.2017.
The learned trial court remanded the applicant to the judicial custody in the instant case.
Learned Senior counsel for the applicant has submitted that the applicant joined and cooperated in the investigation and accordingly, a charge
sheet was filed straight away in the court, without arrest of the applicant. He has drawn my attention to the decision of the Punjab and Haryana
High Court in the case of Parminder Kumar @ Sushil Mishra V/s. Assistant Director Enforcement, U.T. Chd, CRM-M 14509 of 2017 decided
on 22.5.2017 (Annexure P/20) and submitted that the CBI did not arrest the applicant during the course of investigation though, he participated in
the investigation and looking to the period of his custody, so also the order dated 17.8.2017, passed in the case of co-accused S.N. Kabra, this
application for grant of bail be allowed and applicant be released on bail.
He further submitted that in eight other cases which are pending trial at Mumbai, the learned ACMM, Mumbai, allowed his application for grant
of bail.
Per contra, Shri Deepak Rawal, learned ASG has submitted that consortium of 26 Banks, led by the Punjab National Bank, suffered a huge
loss of Rs.2075 Crores due to the fraudulent acts of omission and commission by the promoter director of M/s. ZDPL and the present applicant is
the main accused in these matters. The applicant deliberately with an intention to cheat the consortium member Banks, concealed the existence of
Master Agreement with the Banks. Apart from the present case, more than 20 criminal cases have been registered against the present applicant.
The applicant, who is a promoter and director of ZDPL, misrepresented to the Banks about the fraudulent increase of paid up capital from
Rs.39.86 Crores in the year 2006 to Rs.500 Crores in the year 2008, committed only by way of round tripping of funds thereby trying to present
sound financial figures to the consortium member Banks. The funds so raised were ultimately received into the account of M/s. ZDPL in the Indian
Banks, shown as mobilisation advance for a particular contract awarded by its foreign aggregators and others. The applicant has committed a high
ticket fraud with Indian Banks and caused wrongful loss of more than Rs.2600 Crores to the Banks. A part from the present criminal case more
than 25 criminal cases are pending against the applicant and prayed for dismissal of the bail application.
As per record, the co-accused Sharad Karbra was arrested in the year 2015 and thus, the present applicant is not having parity with him.
After taking into consideration the rival contentions of the learned counsel for the parties and looking to the seriousness of the offence in the
present case, so also his criminal record and fraud of more than Rs.2075 Crores with the Indian Banks, so also the fact that 20 more criminal
cases lodged by member of consortium Bank is registered and pending against him, I am not incline to allow the prayer for grant of bail. Hence, the
application filed by the applicant has no merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.