Delhi High Court grants interim bail to Neeraj Singal

The Delhi High Court today granted interim bail to former Bhushan Steel promoter Neeraj Singal in the alleged Rs. 2500 crore loan fraud case he has been implicated in..A Division Bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel pronounced the order, as matter of interim relief to Singal, in a writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Singal’s mother against his arrest by the Special Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) earlier this month..Singal, who is first person ever to be arrested by the SFIO after it was granted the power to arrest in August 2017, has been in judicial custody since August 8..The Court further directed Singal to submit a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs as well as two sureties in the sum of Rs.2 lakhs each to the satisfaction of the Special Judge (Companies Act)..The writ petition, filed through advocates Pramod Kumar Dubey, Ranjana Roy Gawai and Arshdeep Singh, has challenged Section 212(6)(ii) of the Companies Act, 2013. The petition contends that this provision imposes unreasonable restrictions for grant of bail to persons arrested under the Act, thereby being violative of fundamental rights..The Central government and the SFIO had opposed Singal’s bail on the ground of possibility of evidence tampering, as a result of which the investigation, which has reached an “advanced stage”, would be hampered..The Bench had reserved its orders on granting interim relief on Monday..Today, the Court granted interim bail to Neeraj Singal, while clarifying that the same would continue till the SFIO submits its final investigation report to the Special Court in terms of Sections 212 (14) read with Section 212 (15) the Companies Act, 2013. At that stage, Singal may seek regular bail from the Special Court, if necessary..The Court has directed Singal to co-operate with the investigation in the meantime. However, he shall not be compelled by the SFIO to sign his statement under Section 217 (4) read with Section 217 (7) of the Companies Act, 2013..Singal was represented through Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Sidharth Luthra, along with Advocate Ranjana Roy Gawai of RRG & Associates..Read judgement: