The Patiala House Courts, Delhi has granted anticipatory bail to Anant P. Deshpande, Rajat P. Deshpande, Srijan Nagar and Parikshit Khokher in connection with an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) alleging cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy in relation to loan disbursals by a non-banking financial company. The Court held that, at this stage, custodial interrogation of the applicants was not necessary as the investigation primarily concerns appreciation of electronic records and no specific direct evidence implicating them had been placed on record.
The prosecution alleged that loans were disbursed to borrowers on the basis of false assurances that they need not be repaid and that verification safeguards had repeatedly failed or were selectively bypassed, enabling disbursals despite forged documents. It was further alleged that the complainant had preserved the relevant electronic records relating to the transactions.
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The Court noted that the complainant had entered into an agreement with FinBox, under which the company’s role was limited to uploading data and analysing records and did not extend to disbursal of loans. It also observed that the investigating agency had repeatedly sought additional time on the ground that the data involved was voluminous but had failed to place any specific evidence directly indicating the applicants’ involvement in the alleged economic offence since the filing of the anticipatory bail applications in April 2026.
Significantly, the Court observed that the applicants had already been enjoying interim anticipatory bail without any allegation of misuse of the concession. It further noted that the complaint itself did not specify the precise illegal acts allegedly committed by the applicants requiring their custodial interrogation, and the investigating officer’s report was also silent on that aspect. The applicants were stated to have no criminal antecedents.
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Holding that the investigation essentially pertains to examination of electronic evidence and that physical custody was not required for completing the investigation, the Court made absolute the interim protection and granted regular anticipatory bail to the applicants, subject to conditions including furnishing personal and surety bonds and informing the investigating officer before leaving India. The Court clarified that its observations were confined to the adjudication of the bail applications and shall not influence future proceedings in the case.
