Bhushan Steel ex-promotor Neeraj Singhal granted interim relief
Bhushan Steel's erstwhile promoter Neeraj Singal was on Wednesday granted interim relief by the Delhi High Court. Singhal would be released from custody subject to his furnishing a personal bond of Rs five lakh and two sureties of Rs two lakh each, said a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel.
An oral plea was made by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), to stay the operation of the interim order for a week, which was also turned down by the court.
"Request declined," the bench said before disposing off the interim application moved on behalf of Singal, represented by advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, seeking his release from custody.
Several conditions were imposed by the court while granting relief, including that he would not influence witnesses or hamper the investigation.
Singhal was arrested on August 8, for allegedly siphoning off Rs 20 billion funds by directing his release on bail.
The SFIO had arrested him in relation to investigations into the affairs of Bhushan Steel Ltd and Bhushan Steel and Power Ltd, pursuant to a May 2016 order of the Centre under the Companies Act.
Singhal’s arrest was termed as illegal and violative of his fundamental rights under the Constitution by the main habeas corpus petition.
His arrest was illegal as no grounds for arrest were communicated to him orally or in writing by the probe agency at the time of arrest, claimed his petition.
On August 27, the high court had said it does not find "frivolous" the plea by Singhal, against powers of arrest of the SFIO.
