New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) A Delhi Court on Wednesday extended by a week the interim bail granted to businessman Ajay Ramesh Nawandar, arrested in connection with an alleged bank fraud of Rs 34,615 crore by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), on medical ground.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne extended the relief till October 19, considering the continuous deterioration in his medical condition.

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The judge said the court found no reason to conclude that either the submissions or the medical records were contrived and non genuine.

The court passed the order while hearing the application moved by the Nawandar's counsel seeking regular bail.

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While extending the relief that was earlier granted on August 31, the court said it will decide the main prayer, i.e., regular bail, as well as the statutory bail, on the next date of hearing.

The court observed that the documents filed by advocate Hemant Shah, appearing for the accused, reflected that upon discharge of the accused for a surgical procedure being performed on September 17, he was further recommended for admission for another surgical procedure and spine surgery.

Earlier, the court had denied him bail on August 22 on account of his possible influence on both evidence and witnesses in the matter.

However, it granted him relief on August 31, saying "the detention of an accused, regardless of the gravity of an offence, cannot operate to the detriment of his basic human right and free agency in determining the nature and locus of medical care, especially when a grave risk to life and limb is more than a reasonable prospect”.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier conducted searches at Nawandar's premises and recovered a large collection of uber-luxury watches worth crores of rupees, including Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Cartier, Omega and Hublot, and two paintings worth Rs 33 crore, the officials said.

The agency claimed that items belonged to former DHFL CMD Kapil Wadhawan and former director of the company Dheeraj Wadhawan, who allegedly defrauded banks to the tune of Rs 34,615 crore, making it the biggest such case probed by the agency.

These were allegedly purchased using the proceeds of the scam and kept at Nawandar's premises to evade recovery and seizure by enforcement agencies, the officials said.

The CBI had alleged that Nawandar was acting as a conspirator, aiding and abetting other accused in the case, to hide the proceeds of the crime and was in the process to dispose these items when he was arrested by the agency.

The CBI had registered the case on June 20 on a complaint from the Union Bank of India (UBI), the leader of a 17-member lender consortium that had extended credit facilities to DHFL to the tune of Rs 42,871 crore between 2010 and 2018.

The bank has alleged that Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, in a criminal conspiracy with others, misrepresented and concealed facts, committed criminal breach of trust and abused public funds to cheat the consortium to the tune of Rs 34,615 crore by defaulting on loan repayments from May 2019 onwards, the CBI said.

An audit of DHFL's account books showed that the company allegedly committed financial irregularities, diverted funds, fabricated books and round-tripped funds to "create assets for Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan", using public money, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)