Amit Bhatnagar is behind bars in connection with the Rs 2,654 crore bank fraud case being probed by the agency.
The Gujarat High Court, on Thursday, sought a reply from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a bail plea filed by Diamond Power Infrastructure Limited's (DPIL) promoter Amit Bhatnagar. Amit is behind bars in connection with the Rs 2,654 crore bank fraud case being probed by the agency. The single-judge bench of Justice Sangeeta Vishen issued a notice to CBI directing it to file its reply in the case by June 6.
Amit has sought a temporary bail for four-weeks on the ground that he needs to decide the legal recourse against the Rs 10 crore penalty levied by CGST and Central Excise Commissioner, Vadodara. The penalty was levied on him a few weeks back for wrongly availing CENVAT credit in contravention of norms.
The DPIL promoter, through his counsel Amit Nair, submitted that his bank accounts have been already sealed by the authorities. It was submitted that even if he decides to appeal against the penalty before the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), he will have to deposit 7.5 per cent of the penalty amount. Amit also argued that he needs to take an informed legal decision regarding the penalty order for which he requires bail.
While CBI counsel RC Kodekar was not present during the hearing, the counsel for the state government vehemently opposed the bail plea contending that the petitioner has been seeking bail on one or the other reasons. This was opposed by Nair who claimed that the DPIL promoter has never violated any bail condition.
Now, the matter will be taken up for further hearing on June 6.
The Bhatnagar case
CBI had registered a criminal case in March 2018 against the Bhatnagar brothers—Amit and Sumit—and their father Suresh, all promoters of DPIL, for fraudulently availing credit facilities from a consortium of 11 banks since 2008, leaving behind an outstanding debt of Rs 2654.40 crore as on June 29, 2016. CBI had further alleged that the company and its directors managed to get loans and credit facilities despite the fact that they were already featuring in the Reserve Bank of India's defaulters' list and ECGC caution list at the time of initial sanction of credit limits by the consortium.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Amit Bhatnagar")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}