Yes Bank-DHFL case HC seeks CBI’s reply to Avinash Bhosale’s plea seeking release from ‘illegal arrest’

Bhosale’s plea seeks his release and that his remand to custody be declared illegal. The court will hear Bhosale’s plea on June 23.

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice M N Jadhav was hearing the plea by Bhosale, who is currently in judicial custody and lodged in Arthur Road Jail. The central agency had claimed that Bhosale had taken money from Yes Bank for business but diverted it for other purposes.

The agency had in April conducted searches at eight locations in Mumbai and Pune at the residences and offices of suspects in connection with the Yes Bank-DHFL case. Among the places searched were properties linked to Avinash Bhosale and ABIL.

The CBI had arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in 2020, claiming that they had entered into a criminal conspiracy through which financial assistance was extended to DHFL in lieu of substantial undue benefit to Kapoor and his family members.

In June last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized assets worth over Rs 40 crore belonging to Bhosale and his family members as part of an ongoing investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). These properties were seized as equivalent value of foreign securities and properties held by Bhosale and family members in contravention of FEMA.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal argued that Bhosale’s arrest was “patently illegal” and in “gross contravention” of statutory provisions and without jurisdiction. Aggarwal said that his remand was discriminatory as CBI has filed a chargesheet against various accused persons wherein most of them were not arrested by the central agency while Bhosale was arrested without any basis.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing CBI, sought time to respond to the plea. The court directed CBI to file its reply by June 22 and posted further hearing to June 23.