SC dismisses CBI plea, upholds medical bail for former DHFL promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan – CNBC TV18

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the CBI challenging the medical bail granted to Dheeraj Wadhawan, the former promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DHFL), in a multi-crore bank loan fraud case.

The court upheld the Delhi High Court’s decision to grant bail on medical grounds, dismissing the CBI’s request for its revocation.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) observed after reviewing the documents that it is unlikely the trial would be completed within 10 years.

The Delhi High Court had granted bail to Wadhawan in September, noting that he fell within the category of a “sick person” and that the trial court’s earlier decision was erroneous.

Earlier, on January 24, the Supreme Court had cancelled the default bail granted to Dheeraj and his brother Kapil Wadhawan, citing significant errors made by the HC and trial court in their bail orders.

Also read: SC grants bail to businessman Ajay Nawandar in ₹34,615 crore DHFL scam

The case revolves around an alleged criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the Wadhawan brothers and others to cheat a consortium of 17 banks by inducing them to sanction loans amounting to ₹42,871.42 crore.

Investigations revealed that the accused misappropriated a substantial portion of these funds, falsifying DHFL’s books and defaulting on loan repayments, resulting in a loss of ₹34,615 crore to the banks. This remains one of India’s largest-ever banking loan fraud.