In BAIL APPLN. 3714/2023-DEL HC- Delhi HC declines bail petitions of 3 men who impersonated Officers of Enforcement Directorate and extorted money
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma [22-12-2023]

Read Order: DARSHAN HARISH JOSHI & Ors. v. STATE (NCT OF DELHI)

Tulip Kanth

New Delhi, December 29, 2023: The bail petitions of three accused persons have been rejected by the Delhi High Court as they took money in the name of Enforcement Directorate on the pretext of getting the complainants exonerated from a fictitious case which was never registered, and fake summons allegedly issued by ED were also issued by them in furtherance of their common intention.

The accused-applicants had approached the single-judge Bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma by preferring application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) seeking grant of regular bail in a registered under Sections 170/389/387/465/ 471/120B/34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC').

The present FIR was registered on the complaint of Sh. Vipul Kaushik, which he had filed on behalf of Sh. Hardev Singh SB, who is the Industrial Unit President of Nippon Paint India Ltd. In the complaint, it was alleged that on 08.11.2022, he had received two separate notices of Enforcement Directorate on his Whatsapp, one for his appearance and another for his colleague Kumar Hakim’s appearance. Hardev Singh had further alleged that before receiving the said notice, one Akhilesh Mishra (supplier of solvents on commission basis in Nippon Paint India) had called Kumar Hakim and told him that he could help him to get rid of that trouble with the help of his contacts in Ministries.

Thereafter, Kumar Hakim met Akhilesh Mishra, who demanded Rs. 2-3 crores to settle the matter. Hardev Singh had informed Enforcement Directorate, Delhi about the said notices and from the office of Enforcement Directorate, Hardev Singh came to know that the said notices were fake. Accordingly, to catch the culprits red-handed, Hardev Singh kept his conversation going on with Akhilesh Mishra and Darshan Harish Joshi to settle the matter.

Hardev Singh arranged flight tickets of Akhilesh Mishra and Darshan Harish Joshi from Mumbai to Delhi and also booked a room in Hotel The Ashok in Delhi. Consequently, the Enforcement Directorate informed the Crime Branch, Delhi that some individuals were attempting to extort money from a person, who lives in Mumbai, under the guise of being Enforcement Directorate officials. Thereafter, a raid was conducted and accused persons Akhilesh Mishra, Darshan Harish Joshi, Vinod Kumar Patel, Dharmender Kumar Giri and Naresh Mahto were arrested. During the investigation, call recordings were found in the mobile phone of Akhilesh Mishra, which revealed the active participation of Darshan Harish Joshi in this conspiracy.

After concluding investigation, charge-sheet was filed and the FSL report/result regarding the CCTV footage and mobile phones of the accused persons was still awaited.

Justice Sharma took note of the fact that there were specific allegations against the accused persons of impersonating as officer of Enforcement Directorate and extortion of money by extending threats of implication in a false case to the complainants.

After a perusal of record and chargesheet, the Bench noticed that there were conversations between the applicant Darshan Harish Joshi and co-accused Akhilesh Mishra which revealed the active participation of all applicants in the entire conspiracy.

The applicants had also introduced the fake officer of ED to the complainant who had threatened him to pay the amount. The applicants had also asked the complainant to settle the matter by paying Rs.15-20 crores to them, and had threatened him with dire consequences in case of failure to make the payment. The police had arrested the applicant from the spot i.e. hotel in question, while negotiating with the complainant Vipul Kaushik. CCTV footage also revealed that the accused were present in the hotel in question at the time of commission of alleged offence.

The case in question was of criminal conspiracy hatched by all the accused persons in furtherance of their common intention to extort money from Hardev Singh and Kumar Hakim, who were President and Director of Nippon Paints India-Mumbai respectively.

“This Court is of the opinion that the allegations against the accused persons are serious and grave in nature. Furthermore, since the money was being taken in the name of Enforcement Directorate on pretext of getting them exonerated from fictitious case which was never registered, and fake summons allegedly issued by ED were also prepared and issued by the accused persons in furtherance of their common intention, this Court finds no ground for grant of bail, at this stage, as the trial is yet to commence”, the Bench held while dismissing the bail pleas.