Money laundering case: Delhi HC reserves order on Avantha Group Gautam Thapar bail

The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved the order on a bail application of Gautam Thapar, Avantha Group promoter in a money laundering case linked to an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 515 crore.

The bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri has reserved the order on the bail application after the conclusion of the arguments of both sides.

The matter was listed for rejoinder arguments on behalf of Gautam Thapar, who was represented by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, briefed by a team from Karanjawala and Co led by Sandeep Kapur, Senior Partner along with Vir Sandhu, Vivek Suri, Niharika Karanjawala, Mridul Yadav, Abhimanshu Dhyani, Sahil Modi and Kajal Advocates.

Senior Advocate Rohatgi, during rebuttal arguments, submitted that the applicant is in jail for the last six months and there has been no arrest made and no chargesheet has been filed in the predicate offence by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Thapar was arrested on August 3, 2021, in connection with allegations of misappropriation of funds granted by YES Bank in the form of a loan.

Rohatgi further submitted that there was adequate collateral security rendered by Avantha group and it was admitted position through prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Amit Mahajan, the Standing Counsel representing the Directorate of Enforcement, opposed the bail application filed by Thapar on the last date of the hearing.

The trial court had recently allowed the bail applications moved on behalf of employees of the Avantha Group Companies, who have been arraigned as co-accused in an alleged case of wrongful loss to YES Bank, to the tune of rupees Rs 466.51 crore, registered by the ED.

However, in the same case, the court had dismissed the bail application moved on behalf of the co-accused Rana Kapoor, former MD and CEO of YES Bank.

The trial court had earlier dismissed the bail petition of Businessman Gautam Thapar, Promoter of Avantha Group. Thapar's bail plea is presently examining by the Delhi High Court. Thapar was arrested by the ED in August month last year and is currently undergoing judicial custody.

In October last year, the trial court took cognizance of the ED chargesheet (prosecution complaint) filed against Avantha group promoter Gautam Thapar involving Yes Bank's Rana Kapoor and several employees in connection with money laundering case.

According to the ED, an ECIR was registered against Gautam Thapar, Avantha Realty Ltd, Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd and others alleging criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery for diversion/ misappropriation of public money during the period 2017 to 2019.

"Investigation revealed that approximately Rs 500.11 crores proceeds of crime, were laundered through Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd (OBPL), Jhabua Power Limited (JPL), Jhabua Power Investment Ltd. (JPIL), Avantha Power and Infrastructure Ltd (APIL), Avantha Realty Ltd. (ARL) etc. which are being controlled and beneficially owned directly or indirectly by Gautam Thapar," ED told the trial court earlier.

( With inputs from ANI )