AgenciesA local court on Monday granted bail to Aarti Singal, former vice chairman and director at Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, who was arrested by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) last week on charges of financial irregularities.
"There is absolutely nothing on record that she had acted independently or constituted the mind or will and/had acted independently in the commission of the offence of fraud," the Delhi court said in its order.
Singal's counsel Vijay Aggarwal had earlier argued that she was only a figurehead in the company and that the real management was with her husband Sanjay Singal and other senior functionaries.
The court order recorded that there is "nothing independent to Singal except that she and Sanjay Singal had signed cheques or issued instructions to the banks, for issuance, of demand drafts, and freight was paid by her from the bank accounts operated by her jointly with her husband".
"As being a dutiful/obedient wife, she obviously would toe the line articulated by her husband and she was in all probabilities acting at the behest of her husband," it said. "She has not been charge-sheeted in the case of Enforcement Directorate (ED) wherein charge sheet has been filed by the ED."
The order said keeping Singal in judicial incarceration will not serve any purpose. "The offence is by and large documented and there is no likelihood of her fleeing from justice or evading the trial she is entitled to bail," it said.
The court recorded that a relevant section of the Companies Act gives benefit to a certain class of persons which include women. The said section "deals with the role of passive women directors who by virtue of their relations with the controlling family are concerned, where they are toeing the line adopted by the controlling mind, they too, in my opinion, are entitled to the beneficial provisions of the Act", the special court judge observed.
"There is absolutely nothing on record that she had acted independently or constituted the mind or will and/had acted independently in the commission of the offence of fraud," the Delhi court said in its order.
Singal's counsel Vijay Aggarwal had earlier argued that she was only a figurehead in the company and that the real management was with her husband Sanjay Singal and other senior functionaries.
The court order recorded that there is "nothing independent to Singal except that she and Sanjay Singal had signed cheques or issued instructions to the banks, for issuance, of demand drafts, and freight was paid by her from the bank accounts operated by her jointly with her husband".
"As being a dutiful/obedient wife, she obviously would toe the line articulated by her husband and she was in all probabilities acting at the behest of her husband," it said. "She has not been charge-sheeted in the case of Enforcement Directorate (ED) wherein charge sheet has been filed by the ED."
The order said keeping Singal in judicial incarceration will not serve any purpose. "The offence is by and large documented and there is no likelihood of her fleeing from justice or evading the trial she is entitled to bail," it said.
The court recorded that a relevant section of the Companies Act gives benefit to a certain class of persons which include women. The said section "deals with the role of passive women directors who by virtue of their relations with the controlling family are concerned, where they are toeing the line adopted by the controlling mind, they too, in my opinion, are entitled to the beneficial provisions of the Act", the special court judge observed.
Read More News on
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
...moreDownload The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
