ED gets special court's nod to quiz Rana Kapoor in Mumbai jail

A special court has allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to interrogate former Yes Bank chief Rana Kapoor in a money laundering case related to the Avantha group.

Judge MG Deshpande of the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court also granted permission to Kapoor's lawyer to be present while the ED records his statement. 

However, he can be present at a visible distance but within hearing range, when the federal probe agency's officials record Kapoor's statement. The former Yes Bank chief is lodged in Mumbai's Taloja Jail after being arrested in March 2020 in the Yes Bank fraud case.

Also Read: CBI alleges fraud, corruption by Rana Kapoor, wife Bindu in fresh FIR

The application, filed by Kapoor's advocate, Vijay Agarwal, had stated that the court should recall its order passed on August 20. 

Agarwal said that if the order is not recalled, then an advocate should be allowed to be present when Kapoor is being questioned by ED officials. He further stated that the whole interrogation should be recorded on a CCTV camera. Agarwal told India Today that the CCTV recording request of Kapoor has also been accepted by the court.

The court had permitted ED to interrogate Kapoor inside the jail between August 25 and 28.

The ED is investigating a case pertaining to a loan taken by Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd., which is a holding company of Avantha Realty Ltd., from Yes Bank, and its alleged embezzlement between 2017 and 2019. 

The federal probe agency had filed a money laundering case on the basis of a 'predicate offence' registered by the CBI against Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor, and Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar. According to the agency, Yes Bank had suffered losses of more than Rs 466 crore.

Also Read: ED arrests Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar for money laundering