New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) A Delhi court has refused to alter charges against Dewan Housing Finance Ltd’s (DHFL) former CMD Kapil Wadhawan, former director Dheeraj Wadhawan, businessman Ajay Ramesh Nawandar and others.
The trio, along with others, are accused in a bank fraud case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in June 2022 for allegedly defrauding a consortium of 17 banks to the tune of Rs 34,000 crore. According to the agency, it was among the biggest banking loan frauds in the country.
Special Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra, who was hearing CBI’s plea seeking amendment of charges against the Wadhawan brothers and Nawandar, said that the court cannot review its own order of framing charges except to the limited extent of correcting a clerical or typographical error.
In an order dated October 29, the court said that it had specifically held earlier that the charge under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent) was not attracted against Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan.
It said that there was also no evidence to frame charges against all three accused under IPC sections 206 (fraudulent removal or concealment of a property to prevent its seizure as a forfeiture or in execution of a decree) and 424 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property).
The court further refused to frame a charge for the substantive offence of criminal conspiracy against all accused in the case, saying it had earlier considered the evidence and framed charges against specific individuals.
“It is also pertinent to note that this court cannot review its own order except to the limited extent of correcting a clerical or typographical error,” the judge said.
He underlined that although a party may bring to the court’s notice facts or materials that could warrant the addition or alteration of a charge, no party has a vested right to seek such addition or alteration as a matter of right, as the power was exclusively vested in the court.
The court had framed charges under various penal provisions against 104 accused persons on July 30, while discharging five people. PTI MNR MNR KSS
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