Court asks bank to defreeze accounts of firm ‘favoured’ by Kejriwal’s secretary

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While giving the order, Special Judge Ajay Kumar Jain pointed out that three months after the CBI froze the company’s accounts, it had not found anything wrong in the execution of contracts or any loss to the government exchequer due to the allegedly exorbitant rates charged by the company.

“According to the CBI case, there is a conspiracy and criminal misconduct in awarding of contracts as works were awarded without following the proper procedure, however, as per reply and arguments, till present stage, CBI has not found anything wrong in the execution of the contracts,” said Jain.

The court also pointed out that it was a bit unusual that bribe amounts would come into the accounts of ESPL, as “ordinary course of conduct suggest that applicant company… alleged to have secured contracts, should have bribed the public servants”.

The agency had “nowhere” stated that the “huge bribe amounts” from the company account were “dis-siphoned” in other accounts, observed the court.

The court said the CBI was “conspicuously ambiguous” and “not expanding arguments” about where ESPL was allegedly receiving the commissions from and how such payments were illegal.

“In these facts and circumstances, it is not appropriate that the accounts of the company… remain freezed till the conclusion of investigation, particularly when more than three months have already elapsed and there is nothing on record by CBI that by what time they will conclude the investigation,” the court said.

The judge said the CBI had not argued that ESPL had not carried out its work properly or done so at “exorbitant rates”.

The court said that the agency, during arguments, has “not contravened the fact” that the work was not executed by ESPL “properly or whatever the work executed by this company was deliberately executed at exorbitant rates.”

“CBI in its reply or during arguments could not point out the wrongful loss caused to the govt exchequer by this company by performing the work on exorbitant rate or by not performing the work properly,” it said.

Ordering the defreezing of accounts, the judge said, “From the seizing of bank accounts till the date of arguments, more than three months have passed, but the CBI, neither in its reply nor during arguments, could point out any entry of the said bank account, which suggests that huge bribe amounts were received in the seized bank accounts prior to December 18, 2015.”

It added, “The court has to strike a balance, both between the rights of investigation and the rights of the applicant. If the accounts are not made operational then definitely it will hamper the business of the applicant company with consequent loss to the livelihood of the employees connected to the company and other persons”.