Corruption charges against Guruashish Construction and its directors have been dropped after a CBI investigation found no evidence of public servant involvement in the multi-crore cheating case, marking a significant turn in the legal proceedings.
A special court on Thursday dropped corruption charges in the multi-crore cheating case against Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd and its directors Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan after the CBI concluded no public servants were involved in graft linked to the offence.
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court transferred the Rs 140-crore case to the magistrate's court for further proceedings after noting it lacks specific jurisdiction to proceed with the matter after the probe agency's submission.
The case was presided over by special CBI Judge B Y Phad as the initial complaint alleged a criminal conspiracy involving cheating and misconduct by Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd (GCPL), its directors, and unidentified public servants.
However, the CBI, which probed the case, named four primary accused parties under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for multiple offences, including forgery and cheating, in its final chargesheet.
Those accused are Guruashish Construction, its two directors Rakesh and Sarang Rakesh Wadhawan as well as another firm, Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).
The complainant, Debraj Bag, a retired Deputy General Manager of the Union Bank of India, too, informed the court that after an internal examination and review of staff accountability guidelines, no officials of the government-run lender were found to be accountable for the matter.
The special court then dropped charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), a law aimed at curbing graft among public servants, from the case. The court noted its jurisdiction under the PCA is specifically tied to cases involving at least one "public servant".
"As there are no public servants arrayed as accused in the chargesheet, this special court lacks the specific jurisdiction to proceed with the matter," the Judge observed.
As per the prosecution case, registered on a complaint of the Union Bank of India, Guruashish Construction and its directors are accused of cheating the PSU lender to the tune of Rs 140 crore.
It alleged that Guruashish Construction was sanctioned a term loan of Rs 200 crore by the bank on October 15, 2010, and the same was disbursed in March 2011.
The term loan was sanctioned by the bank for the development of about 40 acres of land parcel in Mumbai's Goregaon (West) in accordance with an agreement signed by the private company with state-run housing agency MHADA.
The bank alleged that the funds, however, were siphoned off and diverted for purposes other than those for which it was granted.