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Bail Application No. 958/2018
CNR No. MHCC02н016612н2018
IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL JUDGE FOR C.B.I.
FOR GREATER BOMBAY AT MUMBAI
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 958 OF 2018
IN
REMAND APPLICATION NO. 1234 OF 2018
(R.C. No. BSM/2018/E/0004нCBI/BS & FC/Mumbai)
MR. BECHU TIWARI,
S/o. Late Banshi Tiwari,
Age 58 years, Occ.:Working as
Chief Manager in Punjab National
Bank, residing at 201, Nirman
Darshan, Punjab National Bank
Complex, AndheriнEast, Mumbai.

Applicant/
Orig. Accd. No. 2
V/s.
THE CENTRAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION, Bank Securities &
Fraud Cell, Mumbai.

Respondent/
Complainant
CORAM :
H.H. THE SPECIAL JUDGE,
SHRI. JAYENDRA C. JAGDALE,
(C. R. No. 51).

DATED :
18th January, 2019.

Mr. Aabad H.H. Ponda, Ld. Adv. for the applt./original accd. no. 2.
Mr. Omprakash, Ld. S.P.P. for the CBI/Respdt.

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Bail Application No. 958/2018
ORAL ORDER
1
This is an application placed by the applicant/original
accused no. 2 Mr. Bechu Banshi Tiwari for regular bail u/sec. 439 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure against whom the offences punishable
u/sec. 120нB r/w 409 & 420 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 r/w section
13(2) r/w 13(1)(c) & (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 have
been registered by Central Bureau of Investigation, BS & FC, Mumbai.
2
Heard arguments advanced by Ld. Advocate for the
applicant/original accused no. 2 and Ld. S.P.P. for the CBI/Respondent.
The Ld. Advocate for applicant/accused has reiterated the contents of
application. The prosecution has strongly objected to grant prayer in
the application. It has given say on the application on record vide Exн2.
I have perused the application and documents produced on record on
behalf of the applicant/accused. I have also perused the say filed on
record by the prosecution.
3
The applicant/accused has submitted through this bail
application that he was arrested by CBI on 18/12/2018. He was posted
and functioning as Chief Manager in Punjab National Bank, Mid
Corporate Branch, Brady House, Mumbai during the period from
23/02/2015 to 04/10/2017. It is alleged that as per office order dated
26/11/2015, the applicant/accused was the overall inнcharge of Foreign
Exchange Department and responsible for the entire forex business of
the
branch.

The
accused
persons
facilitated
issuance
of
unauthorized/fraudulent LOU, whereby the accused company viz. M/s.
Chandri Paper & Allied Products Pvt. Ltd. accrued wrongful gain and
wrongful loss of Rs. 9,09,63,956.48 to Punjab National Bank, Mumbai.

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Bail Application No. 958/2018
The offences for which, the applicant/accused is charged do not fetch
any death term.

Apart from Inнcharge Forex Department, the
applicant/accused was connected with various operations including
liability portfolio, deposits in the form of fixed, current, recurring,
saving, Indian and Foreign Exchange Liability in deposits, Demats,
Mutual Fund, Credit Risk Rating, NPA accounts, recovery and amongst
others. The applicant/accused had to remain out of office for other
official duties viz. attending various court cases in NPA accounts,
recovery of irregular accounts, inspection of securities, etc. There was
unlimited power given to accused Gokulnath Shetty, which was noticed
only in February 2018 by Punjab National Bank top management after
LOUs became due and the scam was revealed and a circular dated
10/04/2018 giving user based limit for issue of LOUs. There was no
system of checks and balances for the purposes of ensuring that SWIFT
messages had to be sent under the control of one person.

The
applicant/accused after his joining as Chief Manager of Brady House
Branch, written a letter dated 04/06/2015 addressed to Circle Office,
Mumbai City requesting for providing additional staff for Forex
Department looking to volume of increased Forex work. In the same
lette, the applicant/accused has also requested that accused Gokulnath
Shetty is due for transfer and requested for his replacement.

The
investigation till date has not revealed any evidence or documents to
prove that the applicant/accused issued any LOU or approved any LOU.
The applicant/accused was on leave from 24/04/2017 to 27/04/2017
and the LOU was issued on 25/04/2017. The applicant/accused has
abused his official position as a public servant and dishonestly
performed his duty improperly thereby facilitated the perpetration of
fraud of Rs. 9,09,63,956.48 on Punjab National Bank, MCB, Brady
House, Mumbai and wrongful gain to M/s. Chandri Paper & Allied
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Bail Application No. 958/2018
Products Pvt. Ltd. The present FIR was registered on 09/03/2018, but
the applicant/accused arrested after 9 months.

The investigation in
present case is complete as far as the present applicant/accused is
concerned. The entire case is based on documents and nothing has
been recovered or discovered at the instance of applicant/accused. He
is not a beneficiary to any of the proceeds of entire crime. On the basis
of mere suspicion without any material on record, no criminal liability
can be fastened as against the present applicant/accused. In the result,
the applicant/accused has prayed to allow the application.
4
The prosecution has filed its reply and submitted that as
per complaint dated 09/03/2018 lodged by Shri. Avneesh Nepalia,
DGM, Punjab National Bank, Zonal Office, Mumbai, during April 2017,
Shri. Gokulnath Shetty, the then Dy. Manager and Shri. Manoj
Hanumant Kharat, Single Window Operator, both from Punjab National
Bank, Brady House, Mumbai entered into a criminal conspiracy with
Shri. Aditya Rasiwasia and Shri. Ishwardas Agarwal, both Directors of
M/s. Chandri Paper and Allied Products Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai and
unknown others in the matter of dishonest and fraudulent issuance of
two Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) for USD 560444.44 and USD
860867.38 respectively, totalling to USD 1421311.82 (equivalent
amount of Rs. 9,09,63,956.48), favouring SBI, Antwerp, Belgium on
25/04/2017, the object of which to cheat Punjab National Bank, MCB,
Brady House, Mumbai. The said two LOUs were fraudulently issued to
M/s. Chandri Paper & Allied Products Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai without any
sanctioned credit limit to the company and also no 110% margin was
provided by the said company.

The accused bank officials without
obtaining required request application, documents and approval of the
authorities thereto and without making entries in the bank system,
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Bail Application No. 958/2018
transmitted to the overseas banks. The applicant/accused was posted
as Chief Manager in Forex Department of Punjab National Bank, MCB,
Brady House, Mumbai during 23/02/2015 to 04/10/2017.

He
dishonestly and deliberately did not ensure the compliance of his own
order dated 19/12/2016, order no. 31 dated 07/02/2017, office order
dated 14/03/2017 issued in pursuance of the above said Foreign
Exchange
Circulars.

The
applicant/accused
was
arrested
on
18/12/2018 in this case. The case is at crucial stage of investigation
and there is every reason to believe that the arrested accused would
resort to all means for thwarting the investigation by tampering with
the evidence that remains to be collected and influence the witnesses,
which is highly detrimental to the case. Hence, the Ld. SPP for CBI has
prayed to reject the application.
5
Herein, I would like to refer the case of Nimmagadda
Prasad v/s. Central Bureau of Investigation [2013 DGLS (Soft.)
404], wherein the Hon’ble Lordships of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
have specifically described the considerations for bail application and
observed that while granting bail, the Court has to keep in mind the
nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the
severity of punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the
accused, the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused,
reasonable possibility of securing the presence of accused at the trial,
reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the
larger interests of public/State and other similar considerations.
6
In view of the abovementioned criteria, it is important to
mention that the prosecution has not raised any point that there is
difficulty for securing the presence of accused at the time of trial. The
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Bail Application No. 958/2018
prosecution has not raised any point regarding the larger interests of
the State or similar kind of consideration. A vague statement made by
the prosecution that at this crucial stage of investigation, the arrested
accused would thwart an investigation by tampering with the evidence
that remains to be collected and influence the witnesses.
7
It is clear from the record that the investigation against the
present applicant/accused is complete and chargeнsheet has already
been filed against him. The apprehension expressed by the prosecution
that the applicant/accused may thwart the investigation by tampering
the evidence and influence the witnesses, however no details have been
given by the prosecution as to which witnesses, the applicant/accused
may influence and what kind of evidence, the applicant/accused may
tamper. The applicant/accused himself undertakes to coнoperate with
the police and remain present whenever required. In short, these are
vague allegations and on the basis of such vague allegations, the
personal liberty of applicant/accused can not be curtailed. There is no
any proper reason to keep the applicant/accused in judicial custody for
indefinite time. Moreover, I have already mentioned that the chargeн
sheet has already been filed in the matter.

Therefore, the
applicant/accused is require to be released on bail subject to certain
conditions. Hence, the application deserves to be allowed. Accordingly,
I proceed to pass the following order :н
ORDER
1
Bail Application No. 958/2018 in R.A. No. 1234/2018
(R.C. No. BSM/2018/E/0004нCBI/BS & FC/Mumbai) is hereby allowed.
2
The applicant/original accused no. 2 MR. BECHU BANSHI
TIWARI is hereby directed to be released on executing P.R. Bond of Rs.

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Bail Application No. 958/2018
50,000/н (Rupees Fifty Thousand Only). Further, he is hereby directed
to furnish one or more sureties of the like amount within two months.
3
The applicant/accused is directed not to leave India
without obtaining prior permission from this Court.
4
Further, till furnishing surety, the applicant/accused is
directed to surrender his passport, if any, with CBI.
5
The applicant/accused is directed to furnish his permanent
address as well as permanent contact numbers to the CBI.
6
The applicant/accused is directed to furnish addresses of
his two relatives and their permanent addresses and contact numbers to
the CBI.
7
The applicant/accused is further directed not to tamper
with the prosecution evidence and to assist in disposal of trial.
8
The applicant/accused shall not commit any offence while
on bail.
9
The applicant/accused is hereby directed to remain present
before investigating officer on every Tuesday in between 10.00 a.m. to
4.00 p.m. till further order.
10
Breach of any of the above conditions will amount to
cancellation of bail granted to the applicant/accused.

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11
Bail Application No. 958/2018
The applicant/accused is hereby allowed to be released
provisionally after furnishing cash bail of Rs. 50,000/н, temporarily for
the period of two months.
12
Bail Application No. 958/2018 in R.A. No. 1234/2018
stands disposed of accordingly.
(Order dictated and pronounced in open court.)

(Jayendra C. Jagdale)
The Special Judge for CBI,
City Civil & Sessions Court,
Gr. Bombay.

Dated : 18/01/2019
Dictated on
Transcribed on
Signed on
Delivered to Certified
Copy Section on
: 18/01/2019
: 18/01/2019
: 18/01/2019
:
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Bail Application No. 958/2018
УCertified to be true and correct copy of the original signed
judgment/orderФ.
Upload Date & Time : 18/01/2019 at 5.20 p.m.
Smt. G. K. Kotawadekar
Name of the Stenographer
H.H.J. SHRI. JAYENDRA C. JAGDALE (C. R. No. 51)
Date of pronouncement of judgment/order :н18/01/2019
Judgment/order signed by the P.O. on :н18/01/2019
Judgment/order uploaded on :н18/01/2019