Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Ratul Puri in a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case as allegedly caught siphoning off money by misusing loans granted to them. (File Photo)
A Delhi Court discharged industrialist Ratul Puri, who is senior Congress leader Kamal Nath’s nephew, on May 24 in a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case in which Puri and others had been accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of defaulting on loans and resulting in financial losses to multiple banks.
“From above discussion, there is sufficient material on the record to come to a prima facie view that the allegations levelled against the accused persons have predominant contours of a dispute of civil nature and does not have the markings of a criminal offence. The dispute predominantly of a civil nature is being given colour or shades of criminal nature,” said Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal of Rouse Avenue Court in his order.
What tilted the case in the favour of the accused people was the fact that the banks had denied the CBI sanction to investigate and prosecute 40 of their officials. “As the competent authorities qua bankers have even shut out initiation of investigations against all of their bankers, totalling 40 in numbers u/S. 17A of PC (Prevention of Corruption Act) Act, it shows that present case was not having any criminal complexion or no criminal ingredients of cheating, deception or inducement,” noted Judge Aggarwal.
“…senior bankers/Government officials, who are experts in the field of banking and know nitties and gritties of all the loan transactions, were fully conscious of this aspect when they denied approval u/S. 17 A of PC Act and they can also be said to be aware that the matter was of civil nature for which banks may have civil remedies available to them, as per law,” he added.
The CBI had accused Ratul Puri, his mother Nita Puri, and private company Moser Baer India Limited (which made CDs and DVDs) of defrauding a consortium of banks. It had alleged that the goal of the accused was to defraud the banks by siphoning off money by misusing loans granted to them.
The CBI had also alleged that the siphoning of funds could not have been possible without the “active connivance of bank officials” since it was the job of the bank officials to monitor the loans.
“…there was no diversion or siphoning or misuse of the loan(s) at any point of time and the loans were utilised for the purposes for which it was disbursed as per the RBI guidelines and the banking norms and in view of the fact that the senior functionaries of the different banks/consortium of banks running into 40 in numbers were even denied approval to investigate u/S. 17A of the PC Act by the different sets of competent authorities,” said Judge Aggarwal.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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