SC refuses to extend time granted to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation's former promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan to surrender

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend the time granted to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation former promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan to surrender in a bank loan fraud case.

The apex court had earlier on August 5 cancelled the medical bail given by the Delhi High Court in September last year and asked him to surrender in two weeks.

Wadhawan is one of the accused in an alleged bank loan fraud of more than Rs 34,000 crore, the largest loan fraud case in the country.

“We are not inclined to extend the time for surrendering as sought by the applicant (Wadhwan). However, as stated that he may require medical attention on a regular basis in the light of the reports submitted by AIIMS Hospital, we direct the CBI ( Central Bureau of Investigation) and jail authorities concerned to ensure that the applicant is taken every Saturday morning to the orthopaedic department, AIIMS, New Delhi," a bench comprsing Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma directed.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the accused, told the SC that his client was suffering from serious medical ailments and needed surgical intervention.

However, the apex court rejected Sibal’s argument, saying "You (Wadhawan) can go to prison. They (CBI and jail authorities) will take you to hospital whenever required.”

The Wadhawan brothers -- Kapil and Dheeraj-- were arrested in this case in July 2022.

According to an FIR based on a complaint by Union Bank of India, the Wadhawan brothers and others had allegedly engaged in a criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of 17 banks. They induced the consortium to sanction loans aggregating to Rs 42,871 crore and siphoned off a significant portion of these funds, causing a loss of about Rs 34,000 crore to the lenders, according to the charges against them.