SC denies bail plea of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh

Singh, along with others, is accused of stealing Rs. 2,397 crore from Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

The Supreme Court denied interim bail to former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh in a money laundering case on Wednesday.
Singh, along with others, is accused of stealing Rs. 2,397 crore from Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).
He had sought interim bail on “humanitarian grounds” for assisting his ailing mother in attending the final rituals of his maternal uncle, who died on March 8.

Taking note of “serious allegations,” the court stated that Singh is a “flight risk” while hearing submissions from senior lawyer Gopal Jain, representing the jailed accused, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of Delhi Police, and senior advocate R Basant, representing the complainant in the case.

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“We are of the opinion that the presence of the accused was not required…,” a bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna said in dismissing the petition.

It took note of the gravity of the crime for which Singh is charged, as well as the pending case of money laundering in which he was accused of paying a bribe of Rs 200 crore to obtain bail.
Previously, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) to complete an investigation into the misappropriation of Rs. 2,397 crore from the RFL by 15 December last year.

The police had stated that the investigation was in its advanced stages and that they hoped to complete it by the end of this year. The Delhi High Court cancelled Singh’s bail in May, stating that his detention was necessary to “uncover the conspiracy hatched by him” and trace the allegedly syphoned off money.

The EOW recently stated that it would take four months to complete the investigation into the fund embezzlement case. “How long should it take to finish the investigation? It cannot be an endless storey,” the bench observed, while asking the police to provide a timetable for concluding the investigation.

Singh’s attorney stated that he has been imprisoned for the past two years and that his custody is not required for the investigation because two charge sheets have already been filed. Singh has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court cancelling the bail granted to him by the trial court in the case.

Suri filed a complaint with the EOW in March 2019 against Shivinder, former CMD of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), Sunil Godhwani, and former CEO of RFL Kavi Arora, alleging that loans were taken while they were managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

According to the prosecution, RFL’s authorised representative Suri claimed that the accused put RFL in bad financial shape by disbursing loans to entities with no financial standing and wilfully defaulting on repayments, causing a loss of Rs. 2,397 crore.

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