New Delhi, August 19: The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe allegations of financial irregularities against Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited and its affiliated companies. This directive was issued on Tuesday by a bench comprising Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohan during a hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Citizens Whistleblower Forum.
The CBI’s investigation will encompass transactions previously examined by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The court emphasized that the CBI should not be influenced by the findings of the EOW while conducting its inquiry.
The PIL raises concerns about suspicious loan transactions, diversion of funds, manipulation of share prices, and the evergreen status of loans associated with Indiabulls. The petitioner questioned the EOW’s decision not to pursue further action on five specific transactions. The court noted that the EOW had already investigated these allegations and deemed further inquiry unnecessary. The petitioner challenged the EOW’s conclusions and called for an independent investigation, prompting the Supreme Court to instruct the CBI to investigate the allegations without regard to the EOW’s report.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, stated that according to an RBI circular, any bank fraud exceeding ₹50 crore must be investigated by the CBI. He asserted that the information provided in the ED’s complaint indicates potential fraud, criminal conspiracy, fund diversion, and issues related to public money in the evergreen loans.
The petitioner claimed that the CBI had not investigated the five allegations because the EOW was already looking into them. He argued that rather than relying on the EOW’s findings, an independent agency should conduct a thorough investigation into the claims.
The CBI’s lawyer informed the court that an application for further investigation into transactions amounting to ₹1,574 crore is already pending before a Special Judge in Mumbai. The agency also referenced its status report detailing coordination among the CBI, EOW, SEBI, and RBI.
The Supreme Court instructed the Special Judge in Mumbai to decide on the CBI’s application within two weeks, starting from August 24. Following this, the CBI must file a progress/status report before the Supreme Court.
Regarding other allegations, the court directed the CBI to conduct an independent investigation and submit a comprehensive report, disregarding the EOW’s opinions or reports. The court also instructed the EOW to complete its pending investigation related to the sixth transaction of approximately ₹1,574 crore and file a new status report.
The court clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on the EOW report, which had cleared some transactions.
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