New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that a businessman detained with regard to the alleged Rs 3,500 crore Bike Bot scam be released on bail and required him to deposit Rs 10 crore as a ‘precondition’ for relief.
Dinesh Pandey was released on bail by the Allahabad High Court in June of this year after finding that he was not named in the FIR and was not employed by the private company which launched the Bike Bot scheme that allegedly defrauded lakhs of people.
The lawyer for Dinesh Pandey said that he had not been released because the police kept bringing up new FIRs that had not been disclosed to him. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police had stated that a Noida-registered company had hatched a multi-level marketing scheme called ‘Bike Bot’ in 2018 and lured investors with promises of doubled returns.
Mr. Pandey must abide by the terms and conditions imposed upon him by the High Court that granted him bail, said a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar. ‘Accordingly, for the reasons mentioned in the order dated July 6, 2021 of this court… we direct the respondents (state of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi) to release the petitioner on bail forthwith on the terms and conditions specified in the bail order passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in respect of the concerned cases and for that matter even future cases to be registered, which shall be done only after taking prior permission of this court,’ added Justice Hrishikesh Roy, along with Justice CT Ravikumar.
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‘The petitioner shall abide by the terms and conditions stated by the High Court. In addition, he shall deposit a sum of Rs 10 crores in the registry of this court which may remain invested in a Fixed Deposit Receipt with a nationalized bank, until further orders. That will be pre-condition for grant of bail,’ the bench said in its order.
Mr. Pandey’s lawyer informed the bench during the arguments that his client had been arrested in November 2020 and that he had been granted bail by the High Court in June.
The state has not objected to the High Court order granting bail, the counsel said, adding that the police have provided him with new FIRs that he was not aware of previously. Lawyers representing the state said investor complaints have been filed, and there have been several cases of investors being defrauded. ‘You should have advised the state to challenge the High Court order,’ the bench observed.
Mr. Pandey’s lawyer said his client has nothing to do with the Bike Bot scheme or allegations that investors’ money was diverted to his company. ‘Even in the present case, it is noticed that multiple FIRs/complaints have been filed and in respect of which the petitioner is being taken into custody in succession,’ the bench said.
The top court said the state must seek prior permission from the court before proceeding against the petitioner in relation to any other independent offence related to the subject project. According to the bench, the petitioner must cooperate fully with further investigation as and when requested by the investigating officer. On October 1, the bench will hear the applications filed in the matter.
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