New Delhi, February 16 A court here heard the State's arguments on businessman Satya Prakash Bagla's plea for bail in a cheating case involving a Kolkata-based investor, and will continue the hearing on February 18.
Additional Sessions Judge Shunali Gupta heard the submissions of the State's counsel and adjourned the matter until noon on Wednesday.
Before the arguments began, Bagla's counsel informed the court that co-accused Johnson Kallarachal Abraham, who had been previously absconding, was arrested in Kerala on February 13 and remanded in police custody for four days the following day.
The State's counsel relied on Supreme Court precedents to argue that a bail applicant is obligated to disclose all material facts. Bagla had failed to disclose his criminal history in his plea, which amounted to concealing material facts, the lawyer said. In one precedent, concealing such information had led to contempt of court proceedings, while in another, it had resulted in an "unwarranted grant of bail", he said.
Bagla's counsel argued that according to the rulings, it is only a guideline and not a mandatory requirement. "These are simply guidelines. And it is not as if the court was never informed about his criminal history prior to granting bail," he said, adding that this does not impact the court's decision as the bail order is still pending and the criminal history has now been disclosed.
Opposing bail, the State's counsel alleged that there was no satisfactory explanation for the purchase of luxury cars when Exclusive Capital Limited (ECL) was in default of over Rs 60 crore to creditors.
The cars were purchased from Luxus Retail, a related party controlled by Bagla, including a second-hand vehicle allegedly purchased at a markup of Rs 2.5 crore. There were also unsecured loans to related entities. "All of this points towards deliberate misappropriation of funds," the lawyer said.
The State's counsel further alleged that the accused had tampered with digital evidence, claiming that some mobile phones were initially not found. They were later found and examined, confirming that data had been recently wiped from the devices.
The lawyer argued that custodial interrogation is necessary as more devices are suspected to be missing and the accused has not yet been questioned about the deleted data.
The State's counsel also alleged that fabricated documents were used, claiming that ECL shared its registered address with another related entity but had no active business there.
Bagla, the owner of ECL, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police on January 9.
The case stems from a complaint from a Kolkata-based senior citizen couple, Suresh Kumar Agarwala and Kanta Agarwala, who have alleged that Bagla and co-directors Achal Kumar Jindal and Johnson siphoned off investors' funds in a multi-crore-rupee fraud through luxury car purchases and sham loans.
An FIR was registered under sections 318 (cheating), 316 (criminal breach of trust) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).