A Delhi court has dismissed the bail plea of former Jaypee Infratech managing director Manoj Gaur in a money-laundering case, underlining that the allegation against the accused is that of cheating and criminal breach of trust, involving scores of people.
The court said while thousands of homebuyers, who had invested their hard-earned money in pursuit of their dream homes, kept running from pillar to post, Gaur was enjoying the proceeds of crime.
Additional Sessions Judge Dhirendra Rana was hearing the plea of Gaur, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 13 last year in a case linked to a Rs 14,599-crore "fraud" with homebuyers.
The federal agency has alleged that funds collected from thousands of homebuyers for the construction and completion of residential projects were diverted for purposes other than construction, defrauding the buyers and leaving their projects incomplete.
It has claimed that two companies -- Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) and Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL) -- collected more than Rs 33,000 crore for the construction of residential projects Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens in Noida and Greater Noida, respectively.
In its order dated February 16, made available on Tuesday, the court said, "It is a matter of record that he (Gaur) has been charge-sheeted in four cases and prima facie, he is found involved in the commission of crimes in predicate/scheduled offences."
The judge said there is nothing on record to presume that the accused did not commit any offence or would not commit further offences in the future.
He said as Gaur has been named in 11 FIRs on similar allegations and had a tainted past, there is a strong possibility that he may commit similar offences if released on bail.
"During the investigation, the books of account of JIL and JAL have been analysed. As per the certificate issued by the chartered accountant of JIL, the total expenditure incurred was only Rs 11,829 crore. Out of 159 towers proposed to be developed, the construction activity in respect of 97 towers was stalled and no work had been undertaken on those towers," the court pointed out.
It meant, the court observed, that 60 per cent of the construction work remained incomplete on the ground and this was the outcome of diverting the funds collected from the homebuyers and investors.
"The allegations against the accused are serious in nature, involving thousands of crores of (money) and thousands of innocent homebuyers. In a case where allegations are of cheating and criminal breach of trust involving a large number of people, the court has to be circumspect while releasing the accused on regular bail," the judge said.
He said according to the allegations, Rs 11,335 crore and Rs 2,498 crore from the accounts of JIL and JAL, respectively, were diverted at the behest of Gaur.
"Thousands of homebuyers, who had invested their hard-earned money in pursuit of a dream home, are running from pillar to post. On the other hand, the accused was enjoying the proceeds of crime by layering alleged business transactions," the judge said.
He said Gaur had also failed to satisfy the twin conditions for bail under section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The twin conditions under the said provision prescribe that the prosecutor must be given an opportunity to oppose the bail plea and the court must satisfy itself that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence and not liable to commit any offence while on bail.
"There is a strong possibility that he may tamper with the evidence, threaten the witnesses and may commit further offences of a similar nature, if released on regular bail. Therefore, the application moved on behalf of accused/applicant Manoj Gaur stands dismissed," the court said.
The ED launched the investigation against the Jaypee Group following multiple FIRs lodged by the economic offences wings (EOWs) of police in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, based on complaints filed by homebuyers of the Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens projects, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust against the company and its promoters.
