Anticipatory bail to Rs 400cr fraud accused who felt to Dubai in 2016

Chandigarh: The special CBI court for Haryana in Panchkula on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to a resident of Karnal, against whom Interpol had issued a red-corner notice after he fled to Dubai when his name cropped up in a Rs 400-crore fraud with a consortium of banks.The court of special CBI judge Rajeev Goyal granted the relief on an application moved by Ashish Singla, who has reportedly been living in Dubai for over 10 years, and who is accused of committing the fraud through his companies involved in exports from Karnal and having offices in New Delhi under the title of Ramdev International.The cause of action arose after the companies borrowed the money from a consortium of banks headed by the State Bank of India. As the company allegedly resorted to fraud, acting on a complaint by bank officials, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started an investigation after registering a case in 2020.The case was first detected when a discrepancy was found in a Rs 137-crore credit line taken by the directors of Ramdev International, who included Singla's father Naresh Singla. When the investigation was in progress, Ashish and others left India for the UAE in 2016. A red-corner notice and a lookout circular were issued against him in 2023. Consequently, Ashish was reportedly detained in the UAE but was released.Meanwhile, the agency claimed to have initiated the process to extradite the accused. "Our contention was that during the investigation or registration of the case, the accused was never required as he had no role in the entire dealings with the complainant bank and the accused. Hence, he deserves the concession of bail. He was never arrested either. Now the chargesheet is filed and hence no arrest is needed for custodial interrogation," said K P Singh, the defence counsel.While the CBI prosecutor opposed the bail plea, the courtmacceded to the arguments by defence counsel and granted anticipatory bail to Ashish. Anil Yadav, the CBI magistrate, has fixed Feb 7 as the next date of hearing.