DHFL corruption case: Bombay HC refuses bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor's wife, daughters

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor’s wife and two daughters in a corruption and cheating case involving private sector lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL). A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre rejected the bail applications filed by Kapoor’s wife Bindu and daughters Roshini and Radha. The three had approached the HC last week, challenging a special CBI court order of 18 September which refused them bail while noting that they had, prima facie, caused a loss of Rs 4,000 crore to the Yes Bank through illegal acts. The lower court had remanded them in 14-day judicial custody and said they did not deserve any sympathy for being women. The three are currently lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai. In their bail pleas filed in the HC, they had said the special CBI court gravely erred in observing that the accusations against them prima facie show complicity in having co-fraudulently and dishonestly received loans as quid pro quo for favour shown by the Yes Bank to DHFL. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed their pleas and said there was nothing wrong with the special court’s order and that it was merely securing the presence of the accused for the purpose of trial. The CBI’s case is that Rana Kapoor, who is currently in jail in connection with a related case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, had entered into a criminal conspiracy with DHFL’s Kapil Wadhawan. The CBI stated that between April and June 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of DHFL.  In return, DHFL allegedly paid a kickback of Rs 900 crore to Kapoor in the form of loans to one DoIT Urban Ventures, a firm controlled by Kapoor’s wife and daughters.