A Delhi court has cancelled Non Bailable Warrants (NBWs) against two Managing Directors of real estate major Unitech Ltd in a case of alleged misappropriation of Rs 500 crore collected from investors for one of its housing projects.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal granted the relief to the firm's MDs Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra, saying "it would amount to interference in the investigation by the police as it was the sole prerogative of the probe agency to arrest or not to arrest an accused in appropriate case... The consequent NBWs issued by IO against the accused are accordingly set aside."
However, the court said it would be open to the IO to come to a conclusion independently. "During the probe, if he wants to arrest the accused, he would be at liberty as per law," it said while accepting the arguments advanced by accused's advocate Vijay Aggarwal.
Aggarwal had also said that the issuance of the NBW was wrong as it would amount to interference in the ongoing probe which is the sole prerogative of the investigating agency.
The magisterial court had last year pulled up Delhi Police for conducting an "eyewash" of an investigation in the case of alleged misappropriation of Rs 500 crore by the real estate major, saying it was yet another case where the builder lobby had taken innocent investors for a ride. Following this, NBW was issued by the IO.
As per allegations levelled by the complainants on which an FIR was lodged, the firm had launched a project in Sector- 70 Gurgaon where the housing complex was to come up. As per the agreement entered between the parties in 2011, the project was to be completed by 2014 and the possession was to be handed over to the prospective buyers.
They had alleged that the firm had collected a sum of around Rs 500 crore from the investors as well as the bank but the amount was not utilised towards fulfilling the contractual obligation.
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