SC grants anticipatory bail to former directors of Mohan Steel Limited

The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to Mohan Krishna Kejriwal, Gopal Kejriwal and Sri Krishna Kejriwal, former directors of Mohan Steel Limited in a case linked to an alleged company fraud of Rs 7,500 crore (approx.) caused to a consortium of 14 banks, in which the Promoters and Directors of the Rotomac Group of Companies and Frost International Limited are also facing trial.

A bench comprising of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S. Oka in its September 2's order observed that it is not disputed that the appellants have been cooperating with the investigation and the whole issue arises out of records and documents.

"In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the order dated 30.03.2022 is made absolute," the court said.

On March 30, the court granted interim protection from arrest to former directors of the private company and directed them to cooperate with the investigation.

The SFIO led an investigation into the Rotomac group of companies and filed a complaint in May, 2020.

The Petitioners were represented by a team from Karanjawala & Co led by Sandeep Kapur, Senior Partner and comprising Tahira Karanjawala, Niharika Karanjawala and Apoorva Pandey, who briefed Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave.

Senior Advocate Dave submitted before the bench that the Petitioners have been cooperative throughout the investigation, that the statement of one of the Petitioner had already been recorded and that the other Petitioners were never called by the investigating agency and all other co-accused have been granted bail in the matter.