DHFL scam: CBI arrests Dheeraj Wadhawan in Rs 34,000-crore bank fraud
New Delhi, May 14: The CBI has arrested former DHFL Director Dheeraj Wadhawan in connection with the alleged defrauding of a 17-member lender bank consortium to the tune of Rs 34,000 crore, officials said Tuesday.
Wadhawan, arrested from Mumbai on Monday night, was produced before a special court here which remanded him in judicial custody on Tuesday, they said.
The former director of DHFL and his brother Kapil were earlier arrested in the case in on July 19, 2022, they said.
The agency had filed a charge sheet against 75 entities including Kapil and Dheeraj on October 15, 2022.
They were granted "statutory" bail from the special court on December 3, 2022, on the grounds that the investigation was incomplete and the charge sheet filed was piecemeal. This order was upheld by the Delhi High Court as well.
The CBI had challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which set aside the bail orders noting that the Special Court as well as the High Court "committed serious error of law" in disregarding the legal position enunciated and settled by the apex court.
In the meanwhile, Dheeraj Wadhawan got interim bail in a separate matter on medical grounds from the Bombay High Court as he was admitted at the Lilavati Hospital for treatment. The Bombay High Court had regularised the bail in that case on May 2 this year and had also extended his protection from CBI arrest for one week.
The CBI arrested Wadhawan after the protection period was over, they said.
At present, three accused are in judicial custody -- Dheeraj Wadhawan and his brother Kapil Wadhawan and Ajay Nawandar.
The CBI had booked the Wadhawans and others on a complaint from the Union Bank of India, the leader of the 17-member lender consortium that had extended credit facilities to DHFL to the tune of Rs 42,871 crore between 2010 and 2018.
The agency in its charge sheet has alleged that Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, in a criminal conspiracy with others, misrepresented and concealed facts, committed a criminal breach of trust and abused public funds to cheat the consortium to the tune of Rs 34,615 crore by defaulting on loan repayments from May 2019 onwards.
The CBI has alleged that the company committed financial irregularities, diverted funds, fabricated books and round-tripped funds to "create assets for Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan" using public money.
DHFL loan accounts were declared non-performing assets at different points of time by lender banks, the officials said.
When DHFL was hit by investigation in January 2019 after media reports on allegations of siphoning off funds surfaced, the lender banks held a meeting on February 1, 2019, and appointed KPMG to conduct a "special review audit" of DHFL from April 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018.
The audit pointed to the diversion of funds in the garb of loans and advances to related and interconnected entities and individuals of DHFL and its directors.
The scrutiny of account books showed that 66 entities having commonalities with DHFL promoters were disbursed Rs 29,100 crore against which Rs 29,849 crore remained outstanding, the CBI has alleged.
Most of the transactions of such entities and individuals were in the nature of investments in land and properties, it has alleged.
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Supreme Court declares child marriages violate basic rights, urges Parliament to act
New Delhi, October 18, 2024: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that child betrothals—a tactic often used to evade the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA)—violate fundamental rights, including freedom of choice, autonomy, and the right to childhood.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that the anti-child marriage law was unclear on child betrothals. The Court urged Parliament to outlaw the practice and categorize children whose marriages are arranged as “minors in need of care and protection” under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The judgment noted that despite international frameworks like the 1977 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), India has not fully addressed the issue of child betrothals. Under the PCMA, girls under 18 and boys below 21 are considered children, and child marriage is both a crime and a social evil.
Chief Justice Chandrachud pointed out that confusion persists regarding the intersection of personal laws and the PCMA. The Court acknowledged that the government had submitted a “note” suggesting that the PCMA should take precedence over personal laws, citing conflicting High Court judgments. However, the note was not backed by formal documentation, and the matter remains unresolved, with an Amendment Bill introduced in December 2021 still pending in Parliament.
The Court also broke new ground by addressing the impact of child marriage on boys. The judgment highlighted how patriarchal expectations, misinformation, and peer pressure push boys into committing violence against their child brides. “While girls are disproportionately affected, the right to childhood belongs to all genders,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed.
“The intent of POCSO is to protect children from sexual harm, while child marriage institutionalizes sexual abuse by subjecting minor girls to exploitation,” the CJI stated. He further noted that child marriage reduces children to objects, imposing burdens such as compulsory heterosexuality and reproductive expectations, which deny them the freedom to explore their sexuality and personal choices.
The Court issued several guidelines, including:
• Introducing culturally appropriate sexuality education in schools.
• Launching a ‘Child Marriage Free Village’ campaign, similar to the ‘Open Defecation Free Village’ initiative, with the involvement of community leaders.
• Establishing an online portal under the Home Ministry for reporting child marriages.
• Creating a compensation scheme under the Ministry of Women and Child Development for girls who opt out of child marriages.
• Allocating an annual budget to prevent child marriages and support those affected by the practice.
The verdict was delivered in response to petitions by NGOs, including the Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action, which raised concerns about the persistence of child marriages despite nearly two decades of the PCMA. The Court warned that child marriage poses a direct threat to laws like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
