Kapil Wadhawan, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) chief managing director, who was arrested in a money laundering case involving gangster Iqbal Mirchi, has been hospitalised and is undergoing tests for suspected swine flu, his lawyer told a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court on Friday.
His lawyer, Amit Desai, had informed the court that Mr. Wadhawan could not be produced before the Bench as he is undergoing tests. Mr. Wadhawan was admitted to JJ Hospital after he was diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection and hypertension on Thursday.
Mr. Desai requested the court not to shift Mr. Wadhawan from the ICU to avoid spread of the disease. The court said it will hear his bail plea on Monday.
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Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) counsel Hiten Venegavkar did not press for his custody, and special judge Prashant Rajvaidaya remanded Mr. Wadhawan in judicial custody till February 3 or till he is discharged.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief to Mr. Wadhawan on his plea challenging his custody by the ED. A single Bench of Justice A.M. Badar was hearing a plea filed by Mr. Wadhawan through Mr. Desai seeking to quash an order of arrest by ED. Mr. Desai argued that as long as his client is cooperating with the probe, there is no need for arrest.
However, Mr. Venegavkar opposed the plea and sought time to file an affidavit in reply. The Bench will hear the matter on February 11.
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Mr. Wadhawan was remanded in ED’s custody on January 29. According to the ED, ₹12,773 crore was siphoned off from DHFL as loans for one lakh fictitious individual customers using 79 firms which were linked to promoters of the company. Mr. Wadhawan allegedly used the money to buy properties belonging to Mirchi, late aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, in Worli.