Bank fraud: SC grants bail to Amtek Group ex-chairperson in ED case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Amtek Group chairperson Arvind Dham in a money laundering case related to Rs 27,000 crore bank fraud.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe set aside a Delhi High Court order which had denied bail to him.
Justice Aradhe, who was sitting in a bench led by Justice PS Narasimha, pronounced the verdict, saying the court has allowed the appeal of Dham in the case.
The Delhi High Court had denied bail to Dham on August 19 last year, saying premature release could risk undermining efforts to secure accountability.
"With the advancement of technology and Artificial Intelligence, economic offences such as money laundering have emerged as a serious threat to the financial system of the country. These offences pose a significant challenge for investigating agencies, given the complex and intricate nature of the transactions and the involvement of multiple actors," the high court had said.
The high court added that a meticulous and thorough investigation was essential to ensure that innocent persons were not wrongfully implicated and that the actual offenders were brought to justice.
"The complexity of the case, the multiplicity of transactions, and the layered corporate structures necessarily entail a protracted trial," it had said.
The high court had said that the principle that economic offences warrant stringent treatment in bail matters was not absolute. However, "in cases involving large-scale diversion of public funds, the gravity of the offences assumes overriding significance."
"Given the serious repercussions for the economy and the banking sector, such offences undermine public confidence and harm depositors and creditors. Granting bail too liberally in such matters risks sending a counterproductive signal. Granting bail at this juncture would risk compromising both the trial and public confidence in the justice system. Continued custody is thus warranted," it had said.
Earlier, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 550 crore of Amtek Group firms, an insolvent automotive equipment manufacturing company, under the anti-money-laundering law.
Action was taken against Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL limited, Metalyst Forging Limited, Castex Technologies Limited and Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham, apart from some others, the ED had said.
Properties worth Rs 5,115.31 crore were attached by the agency in September, 2024.
The ED probe began under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the directions of the Supreme Court on February 27, 2024.
Dham was arrested by the agency in July, 2024 and chargesheeted in September, 2024.
The probe found the companies, along with other group concerns, were taken to insolvency, whose resolution led to a haircut of more than 80 per cent for the banks, causing "substantial" losses to these public sector financial institutions.
The financial statements of group companies were "deceitfully manipulated" to obtain additional fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments in the books of accounts, the agency alleged.
The provisionally-attached assets include 145 acres of land in Rajasthan and Punjab, some properties in Delhi-NCR valued in total at Rs 342 crore, apart from fixed deposits and bank balances worth Rs 112.5 crore.
All the Amtek assets are identified as "direct proceeds of crime" and held through several companies beneficially owned by Dham and assets of Amtek companies held by bankers who sanctioned the loans, according to the ED.
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Nine dead as massive fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire ripped through a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people from two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported at 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
The blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting frantic rescue efforts.
With the terrace door locked, the building occupants found it difficult to escape the leaping flames.
Twelve fire tenders were pressed into service, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in evacuation and rescue efforts.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), nine charred bodies were recovered from different parts of the building. "One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," a DFS officer said.
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Those killed on the second floor were identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), their son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of another family -- Nitin Jain (50), his wife Shailey Jain (48) and their son Samyak Jain (25) -- were found dead.
On the first floor, a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead, while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the building during the operation. Two persons with minor injuries were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.
Flames had engulfed large portions of the structure, with thick plumes of smoke spreading across the locality and reducing visibility.
Fire fighters said screams could be heard from those trapped inside the building as they battled for hours to bring the blaze under control.
A firefighter involved in the operation said the intensity of the blaze was significantly higher in the rear portion of the building.
"The fire intensity was higher in the four flats at the rear as compared to the front portion. So far, we have recovered nine bodies and handed them over to Delhi Police. It is difficult to provide details at this stage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation," he said.
He said access constraints worsened the situation.
"Three bodies were found near the terrace level. The access to the roof was locked, and because of this, they could not save their lives. If it had not been locked, they might have survived," he said.
"There is a central staircase which serves as both entry and exit. The rear side gate was covered with a grille, due to which we had to cut it using tools to carry out rescue operations. We deployed five ladders from different sides and also used a turntable ladder vehicle to rescue around 15 people," the firefighter added.
Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta condoled the loss of lives in the fire tragedy, and said immediate medical assistance and relief are being provided to the affected people.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva along with Union Minister of State Harsh Malhotra, local MLA Sanjay Goel, Councillor Pankaj Luthra and BJP Shahdara district president Deepak Gaba, met the bereaved families around 10 am and extended condolences to them on behalf of the ruling party.
The BJP leader said Goel reached the spot within minutes of receiving the information and helped save 18 to 20 people while monitoring the rescue operations.
While talking to reporters, Malhotra described the incident as extremely tragic.
Lauding the prompt response of the fire brigade and police personnel, Malhotra said due to their timely action, around 20 people were rescued.
