Mumbai: Pune-based builder Avinash Bhosale, who has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore fraud at Yes Bank, will stay at the central agency’s guest house in the city for the next two days. The special CBI court on Friday refused to remand the high profile businessman to CBI custody or judicial custody after his lawyer claimed that his arrest was illegal.
The CBI arrested Bhosale, the promoter of the Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Ltd. (ABIL), on Thursday evening from Pune. He was brought to the city and produced before the special CBI judge court on Friday.
The agency sought Bhosale’s 10 days’ custody remand, claiming that he had received ₹292.50 crore from Radius Group Concerns of Shri Sanjay Chhabariaa, who has also been arrested in the case, and an amount of ₹68.82 crore directly from DHFL for consultancy works that Bhosale’s firm did not do.
Bhosale’s counsels, advocates Vijay Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal, opposed the plea claiming that the builder’s arrest itself was illegal as the special court had not granted permission to the CBI to conduct further investigation when it filed the first charge sheet on June 25, 2020, and a supplementary charge sheet on July 18, 2021.
They said since the charge sheet was filed, the special court also framed charges against two accused in the case and thus paved the way for starting the trial and trial was set to begin, no further investigation was permitted.
After lengthy arguments, CBI sought time to file a reply to an application and on the agency’s request, the court deferred the hearing on the remand application to Monday.
The agency then requested the court to send Bhosale to jail till Monday. Agarwal, however, objected to the suggestion and demanded that he be placed under house arrest.
CBI then came out with a suggestion to keep the builder as their guest at the agency’s guest house in Mumbai till Monday, when he will be again produced before the court for the hearing on the remand application.
Bhosale, the father-in-law of Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Vishwjit Kadam, is booked by CBI in the Yes Bank fraud. The fraud primarily involves Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DHFL) and its promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan.
According to CBI, between April and June 2018, Yes Bank invested ₹3,983 crore in short term non-convertible debentures or “Masala Bonds” of DHFL.
The bank subsequently sanctioned a term loan of ₹750 crore to a DHFL group firm and in return, the then Yes Bank MD and CEO Rana Kapoor received kickbacks worth ₹600 crore from the DHFL in terms of a loan to his family firm, DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Private Limited.
The CBI on June 25, 2020, filed the first charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet on July 18, 2021, against the Wadhawan brothers, Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife and daughters and two officers of the Yes Bank.
CBI, in its remand application, said that during the further investigation they found that in 2017 and 2018, DHFL had paid a total amount of ₹68.82 crore to Avinash Bhosale group firms under the guise of providing consultancy services – like architectural, construction planning and financial advice for three construction projects of builder Sanjay Chhabariaa, also arrested in the case, and one project of Sudhakar Shetty.
“But, no such services were provided and the entire payment was obtained by companies of Shri Bhosale without the performance of any work/service,” said the CBI’s application seeking Bhosale’s 10 days custody remand.
Besides, the plea added that the Radius Group of Chhabariaa has also diverted amounts of ₹292.50 crore after receiving loans of ₹2,000 crore from DHFL.
“M/s Sumer Radius Realty diverted the said amount to M/s Nibodh Realty LLP and ABIL Dairy, companies of Shri Avinash Nivrutti Bhosale,” it added.
Meanwhile, the special court on Friday remanded builder Satyan Tondon, also arrested by CBI in the case on Thursday, to judicial custody. The court, however, ordered him to be admitted to a state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai, after it was informed that Tandon had been suffering from severe depression and had suicidal tendencies. Tondon is accused of helping DHFL in siphoning loan amounts in layered transactions.
