Vipul Chitalia s/o Chunilal Chitalia Vs CBI and Anr. (Bombay High Court)
Summary: The Bombay High Court considered Vipul Chitalia’s application for regular bail in Special CBI Case No. 38 of 2018, arising from alleged fraudulent letters of undertaking and foreign letters of credit issued through Punjab National Bank. The prosecution alleged losses aggregating approximately ₹7,080.86 crore during 2013–2017. Chitalia, formerly Vice President (Banking Operations) of the Gitanjali group, was alleged to have participated in applications for 165 letters of undertaking and enhancements to 58 foreign letters of credit. He had remained in custody since 6 March 2018, while the CBI had already filed two charge-sheets and indicated a third might follow.
The applicant contended that the proceedings involved 92 prosecution witnesses, the investigation was still continuing, and an early conclusion of trial was unlikely. He relied upon the Supreme Court decisions in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI, Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb and Sujay Desai v. SFIO on the right to a speedy trial and the impermissibility of indefinite pre-trial detention. He also sought parity with co-accused Aniyath Shivraman Nair and other Gitanjali group officials already released on bail. The CBI opposed the application, citing the magnitude of the alleged fraud, Chitalia’s responsibilities in banking operations, his alleged participation in submitting documents and its concern over his earlier overseas travel.
