Seva Vikas Bank fraud: HC refuses medical bail to Amar Mulchandani

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday rejected the plea of Amar Mulchandani, arrested in connection with the ₹429.57 crore fraud at Pune-based Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank, for bail on medical grounds.
The single-judge bench of justice NJ Jamadar rejected the plea after a committee of specialist doctors from JJ Hospital submitted that the former chairman of the bank did not require hospitalisation and could be treated in the out-patient department.
“It is thus clear that, at this stage, the applicant does not require hospitalisation and/or institutionalised treatment for any of the ailments he is suffering from,” said the court, referring to the committee’s report.
While seeking bail, Mulchandani had said he had severe diabetes mellitus and heart disease, and that his health had significantly deteriorated since his arrest in July 2023. He had approached the high court pursuant to the liberty granted to him by the Supreme Court in March this year, primarily thrusting upon the observation of the JJ Hospital committee that he “needs assistance for his daily routine activities”. He contended that it can’t be denied he is an “infirm” and, thus, entitled to bail under Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Justice Jamadar, however, refused to accept the argument. “The requirement of assistance either in the form of physical aids like wheelchair or walker, or human support, cannot be construed to be such an infirmity as to warrant the release on bail by invoking the proviso to Section 45(1) of the PMLA,” said the judge.
The court noted that the accused received treatment as an indoor patient at Lilavati Hospital and JJ Hospital, and seemed relatively stable in parameters such as cardiac, nephrology and ophthalmology.
“On the contrary, an inference may be justifiable that the health condition of the applicant has improved with treatment as an indoor patient for almost four months,” said the court. Now, all that he requires is diabetes management and physiotherapy and, therefore, the requirement of assistance in his daily activities cannot be appreciated in isolation, it added.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Mulchandani on charges of flouting banking norms while sanctioning loans in lieu of kickbacks of 20% of the sanctioned loan amount. As many as 124 loans turned into non-performing assets (NPA), causing a ₹429.57 crore loss to the bank.
The bank was “being run like a family proprietorship by Amar Mulchandani without following any prudent banking norms and favoured loans were sanctioned in return of massive kickbacks”, according to the ED.