Show-cause notice issued to Mumbai jail authorities for failing to take Dhoot's signature before release on bail

File Photo/AFP

A special court here has issued a show-cause notice to the Arthur Road jail superintendent for failing to take the signature of Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot on the personal and cash bonds submitted by him when he was released on bail in January this year.

Dhoot, along with former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar are accused in a loan fraud case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Dhoot was released from the Arthur Road jail on January 20.

Special CBI court judge M R Purwar issued the notice to the jail superintendent on April 1. The detailed order was made available on Wednesday.

Dhoot was admitted to a hospital following his release from the prison.

Considering his continued hospitalisation, the court accepted Dhoot's prayer for acceptance of surety without his personal presence.

The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Dhoot on January 20 this year on executing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one or more sureties. The court had allowed him to be released on a cash bond of Rs 1 lakh and granted two weeks to submit the sureties. Dhoot had submitted the personal bond as well as the cash bond with the prison to be released.

Also read: Mumbai reports first Covid-19 death in 78 days, active cases mount to 1,244

While issuing the show-cause notice to the prison department, the court noted that on March 31 this year, the court is in receipt of original PR (personal recognisance) bond and cash bond of applicant/accused from Arthur Road Jail by hand delivery.

"However, the said PR bond and cash bond do not appear to be signed by the accused and as such it is necessary to call an explanation from the jail superintendent of the Mumbai Central Prison," the court said.

The court issued the notice while hearing Dhoot's plea to accept the surety in his absence as he is bedridden and is presently in hospital.

"During his judicial custody, Dhoot's medical condition was not good, his sugar level was not under control and he faced some other health issues. Immediately after his release from the prison, he was shifted to a Hospital in Aurangabad through air ambulance and since then he has been in hospital itself," Dhoot's lawyer Sandeep Ladda submitted in the court.

He also submitted Dhoot's medical papers. Considering Dhoot's plea, the court treated it as an extraordinary circumstance and accepted the process of surety.

The CBI had named the Kochhars and Dhoot, along with companies Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited, as accused in the FIR registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2019.

The CBI has alleged that ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.