Supreme Court Grants Pre-Arrest Bail To SRS Finance Director Ankit Sachdeva In Fraud Case, Issues Notice To SFIO

Sachdeva's petition before the top court challenges the High Court's refusal to grant anticipatory bail.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta while hearing the matter, said:

"By way of an ad interim order, in the event of arrest, the petitioner be released on bail in connection with Criminal Complaint No. 17 of 2021 filed before the court of 2nd Additional Session Judge cum Special Court (Companies Act) at Gurugram, Haryana, subject to him executing personal bonds for a sum of Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Only), with one ore more sureties in the like amount."

The case arises from a large-scale investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into the affairs of SRS Group companies, initiated by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on August 1, 2018. The probe revealed a massive financial fraud involving outstanding bank liabilities of approximately Rs 1,596 crore.

It was alleged that the accused, including Ankit Sachdeva, a director of SRS Finance, were involved in siphoning and diverting funds through a network of related and shell companies while presenting falsified financial statements to secure loans from banks and financial institutions.

On February 26, the Supreme Court had made interim protection from arrest absolute to Deepak Garg, another director of SRS.

The investigation report of June 5, 2021 led to prosecution under multiple provisions of the Companies Act, including Sections 447 and 448 dealing with fraud and false statements. Specific allegations against the petitioner included signing financial statements for FY 2013-14 and 2014-15 that concealed related-party transactions and misrepresented the financial position of the company.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court, while considering the anticipatory bail plea, observed that the material on record prima facie indicated the petitioner's active involvement in the fraud by knowingly furnishing false financial disclosures and dismissed the anticipatory bail plea.

With the high court's refusal to grant him anticipatory bail, he has now approached the supreme court, which has sought a response from the SFIO.

For Petitioner: Advocate on Record Anurag Ojha with Advocates Vipul Kumar, Dipak Raj, A. Bhatt