TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (1) TMI 168
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....assed by the Central Government through Ministry of Corporate Affairs (hereinafter referred to as "MCA"), whereby the MCA, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 212(1)(c) of the Companies Act and Section 43(2)(3)(c)(i) of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 (For short "LLP Act"), ordered an investigation into the affairs of Adarsh Group of Companies and its 125 Limited Liability Partnership Companies (hereinafter referred to as 'companies under investigation' or 'CUIs') by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (for short "SFIO") on the allegations of siphoning of funds of Adarsh Credit Cooperative society Limited (For short "ACCSL"). As per the investigation conducted, huge amount of funds of ACCSL, which actually belonged to two lakh depositors and were running into several crores of rupees, were received by the CUIs on unsubstantial and questionable projected balance sheet and financial statements. Both CUIs as well as ACCSL were controlled by Mukesh Modi who along with his family members and associates, was found involved. In a complaint submitted by the complainant, the present petitioner was arrayed as accused No. 177. This complaint has to be considered a....
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....first petition for grant of bail as filed before the learned Special Court, a period of more than three years has expired. His previous petition had been dismissed by this Court on 09.11.2023 i.e. for a period of more than two years. There has been no progress whatsoever in the complaint, as even charges have not been framed. There are 112 companies and 75 individuals, who have been summoned as accused. There is no foreseeable prospect of conclusion of trial in the near future. He is suffering from several ailments and requires regular medical intervention, which is not being provided in the jail. His prolonged incarceration has amounted to punishment without trial, which is impermissible under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. He was having only 18% share in the ABL Project. A project of the partnership firm stands substantially completed and even possession has been given to a large number of allottees. He had no role whatsoever in the sourcing of funds by Adarsh Build Estate Ltd., and his involvement was confined solely to the execution and development of real estate project as a minority stakeholder in the partnership firm. In fact, through proper banking channels, he ha....
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....g in view the role assigned to him, the present one being a case of commission of an economic offence involving a huge amount of money, constitutes a class apart and needs to be visited with a different approach. As such, the petitioner does not deserve to be extended the benefit of bail. It is, thus argued that the petition is liable to be dismissed. 8. This Court has heard learned counsel for the parties at considerable length. 9. So far as the contention raised by learned counsel for the petitioner to the effect that, since he had joined the investigation several times before filing of the complaint/investigation report before the learned Special Court, hence, in view of the provisions of Section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (which are pari materia with Section 91 of the BNSS), he was entitled to be released on bond and could not be taken or kept in custody for a long period of time, is concerned, this Court, in this context, seeks reliance upon the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Pankaj Jain v. Union of India, (2018) 5 SCC 743, wherein it was observed that there was no question of an accused getting an automatic right to bail if he appears before....
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....12(6) of the Companies Act since, the same are relevant for the purpose. As per this Section which starts with a non-obstante clause, no person accused of any offence under Section 447 of the Companies Act, shall be released on bail on his own bond unless the public prosecutor is given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and where the public prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. 13. In Rohit Tandon v. The Enforcement Directorate, 2018(5) RCR (Criminal) 35(SC), the Hon'ble Supreme Court had observed that the sweep of Section 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (For short "PMLA") which is pari materia with Section 212(6) of the Companies Act, was limited to that Act and it had overriding effect on the general provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure. It was observed that the conditions enumerated in this section were mandatory and should be complied with even in support of an application for bail moved under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It was also observed that ....
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....ously since 22.07.2022. It is not disputed by the respondent-SFIO that even charges have not been framed so far. It is as such apparent that the trial will take considerable time to conclude. Undisputedly, as observed in Sujay U. Desai's case (supra), the twin conditions under Section 212(6) can be diluted in case of prolonged incarceration. However, it is also to be considered that the petitioner has been summoned under Section 447 of the Companies Act which is a serious offence inviting punishment of imprisonment up to ten years. He formed a partnership firm with one of CUIs of Adarsh Group of Companies and as per allegations, swindled an amount of Rs.85 crores by misusing his position as an authorized signatory of ABEL project. Though it is claimed by him that an amount of Rs.85 crores had been returned by him but no material has been placed on record to show so. As already observed, his previous petition has been dismissed by this Court and he was declined benefit of bail by Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 06.05.2024. Though, a second/successive regular bail application cannot be rejected solely on the ground of maintainability thereof, but for such petition to succeed, ....