The Bombay High Court has refused to grant bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor for the second time in a money laundering case involving Kapil Wadhawan, director of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL). Rana Kapoor's earlier bail plea was rejected by the High Court on January 25, 2021.

The bench headed by Justice PD Naik said, "Though Kapoor is in custody for three years, the involvement of public money shows that the charge is serious. There is an apprehension of tampering evidence"

Earlier, the Court rejected a bail application, while observing that the huge loss of public funds, allegedly on account of the criminal activities of his companies, is required to be viewed seriously.

CBI registered case against Rana back in 2020 in connection with a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for entering into criminal conspiracies with Wadhawan for a substantial undue benefit to Kapoor through companies held by his family members.

In 2018, Yes Bank allegedly invested 3,700 crores in short-term debentures of DHFL. It also sanctioned a loan of ₹750 crores to a subsidiary of DHFL.

Kapoor filed the second bail application on the ground that he had been incarcerated for a period exceeding the minimum sentence period prescribed by way of punishment. The maximum sentence for the charges that Kapoor faces is seven years while the minimum sentence if found guilty is three years.

Advocate Abad Ponda, appearing for Kapoor submitted that to date that no charge is framed though the applicant has put in over three years in pre-trial custody and that the trial was not going to commence anytime in the near future. Ponda pointed out that Kapoor is in custody without bail in three cases, including the present case.

The court recorded in its order that Kapoor siphoned off a huge amount of Proceeds Of Crime (POC) out of India through his family group owned/controlled companies.

"Out of proceeds of crime of Rs 600 crores, Rs 378 crores have been invested overseas. Investment relating to the exact layering of proceeds of crime is still under investigation. Considering the role of the applicant in the crime, the magnitude and seriousness of the crime, the applicant is not entitled to bail" the court concluded.