Dheeraj Wadhawan vs CBI

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The petitioner, Dheeraj Wadhawan, a promoter of M/s Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), filed a bail application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 read with Section 482 thereof, seeking bail on medical grounds in a case arising from an FIR registered by the CBI on 20.06.2022. The case involved alleged criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of seventeen banks led by Union Bank of India by inducing them to sanction loans aggregating to approximately ₹57,242.05 crores and siphoning off and misappropriating a significant portion of the said funds by falsifying the books of account of M/s DHFL, causing a wrongful loss of ₹34,926.77 crores during the period from January 2010 to December 2019.

The petitioner claimed to be suffering from multiple comorbidities and chronic ailments including ischemic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and obesity, and had undergone approximately eight surgeries during custody including high-risk spinal surgeries. The petitioner had previously been granted interim medical bail by the Bombay High Court and regular bail in other connected cases, but was denied medical bail by the Special Judge (PC Act), CBI-08, Rouse Avenue Court, New Delhi vide order dated 24.05.2024, which was challenged in the present application.

The Delhi High Court considered the medical condition of the petitioner and the relevant legal provisions governing grant of bail on medical grounds, taking note of the extensive medical history, prior judicial orders from various courts including the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India, and the gravity of the economic offences alleged against the petitioner.

Catchwords: bail on medical grounds · criminal conspiracy · bank fraud · DHFL · CBI · Prevention of Corruption Act · IPC · cheating · default bail · economic offences · chronic ailments · spinal surgery · judicial custody · Section 439 CrPC