Delhi HC grants bail to CA accused in Bhushan Steel Case
Jul 07, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 7 : The Delhi High court on Thursday granted bail to Chartered Accountant (CA) Sunil Bhatia accused in the Bhushan Steel case. The case was registered by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in 2019.
Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL) has been under investigation on account of the alleged siphoning off by its promoters.
Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed the move of bail application on the behalf of Sunil Bhatia. He said, "I do not find merit in the contentions and submissions of Central Government standing counsel (CGSC)."
Senior Advocate P V Kapoor, the counsel for the accused, had submitted that the complaint against the petitioner was not maintainable.
"The appointment letter clearly shows that the petitioner was not an Auditor of BSL during the period of investigation, i.e., Financial Year 2013-2014 to 2015-16. The applicant cannot be held liable for acts done during a period which does not concern him," the senior counsel argued.
On the other hand, CGSC Ripu Daman Bhardwaj opposed the bail application stating that the petitioner did not do any physical verification and relied upon the stock position given by the BSL.
It was also argued that the stock Auditor did not check the records to substantiate the claim of the consumption of such a huge quantity of coal, and also failed to check the bills of stock in the transit of Rs 5,389.58 crores during the audit assigned.
The allegations against Bhatia are that being a CA he has failed to perform his duty independently and diligently by not verifying the stock in transit. He is also accused to be in collusion with the office bearers of M/s Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL).
Bhatia was one of the partners in the firm ASRN and Associates, which was appointed as stock auditors by the consortium of banks led by the Punjab National Bank for the financial year 2015-16.
On the basis of the Investigation Report of SFIO, Bhatia was summoned by the trial court on 16 August 2019 and was taken into custody by the court his bail application was dismissed on 1 June 2022.
