Mumbai: Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor was granted bail by a special court on Friday in connection with the case registered for alleged discrepancies in the loan sanctioned to Avantha Group and the alleged illegal gratification received by Kapoor through his family members. As per the court’s orders, he walked out of the prison in the evening.
Special Judge M G Deshpande, who is hearing all eight cases linked to Kapoor, granted him bail noting that it would be a long time until the conclusion of the trial in the case. After having been arrested in connection with the DHFL-Yes Bank deal case in March 2020, Kapoor was booked in other cases, too. He remained in prison for four years until he was granted bail by the special court on Friday in the last pending case.
The detailed order, however, was not available and the same was expected to be uploaded subsequently. Kapoor’s lawyer Rahul Agarwal had contended that Kapoor was never arrested by the CBI in this case and that his client had already spent four years in prison. Besides, he contended that the CBI had not yet made any effort to begin the trial in the case.
CBI’s Contention Against The Plea
The CBI objected to the plea. As per the CBI, Rana Kapoor, then Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Yes Bank Ltd, had obtained illegal gratification in the form of a property belonging to M/s. Avantha Realty Ltd (ARL), at a prime location in New Delhi well below the realisable market value. The property had been mortgaged for a loan taken by ARL from Yes Bank, for extending concessions, relaxations and waivers in the already existing credit facilities provided to the Avantha Group of comp.es and for advancing new, additional credit facilities to the group.
The agency had claimed that Kapoor, through the firm Bliss Abode Private Ltd, where his wife is a director, acquired the property at New Delhi. The property was mortgaged with Yes Bank and was acquired at the price of Rs 378 crore, against its actual valuation of Rs 685 crore. Meanwhile, Yes Bank had extended credit facilities to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore to various Avantha Group comp.es, and additionally, a loan of Rs 400 crore was granted to ARL.
