HC rejects 3rd bail plea of Film Producer Shrikant Mohta

Shrikant Mohta Vs Republic of India (Orissa High Court)

Conclusion:  There had been no substantial change in circumstances after rejection of the last bail application of assessee by the court in January this year and subsequent dismissal of his SLP by the Supreme Court in February. Further, huge number of documents had been seized and statements of witnesses had been collected against assessee even after rejection of the last bail application,  there was deep rooted criminal conspiracy to cheat the public with an eye on personal profit, large number of innocent depositors had been duped of their hard-earned money, there was  deliberate design by the accused persons to flourish the illegal chit fund business activities of Rose Valley, in the larger interest of public and State, therefore, the Court was not inclined to reconsider the prayer for bail and direct his release on bail.

Held:  The factual matrix of the prosecution case was that Rose Valley Group of Companies (hereafter for short ‘Rose Valley’) collected huge amount of money from public enticing them with false promise of paying higher rates of interest although Rose Valley was not having any authorization from the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board of India for carrying out such activities and therefore, the company cheated the public. The Mohta, co-founder of Shree Venkatesh Films Pvt Ltd (SVFPL), was accused of embezzling crores of rupees on the pretext of producing films by entering into an agreement with Brand Value Communications Ltd (BVCL), a sister concern of Rose Valley Group. The third successive bail application of assessee Shrikant Mohta was filed before this Court. It was held that in absence of  any such substantial change in the circumstances after rejection of the last bail application of assessee by this Court on 02.01.2020 and dismissal of the Special Leave Petition against that order by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 10.02.2020 and when further investigation of the case was at a crucial stage and huge number of documents had been seized and statements of witnesses had been collected against assessee even after the rejection of the last bail application of assessee by this Court relating to his involvement in the Rs.17,000 crores scam committed by Rose Valley Group and there was no negligence on the part of the jail authorities in providing proper treatment to assessee in a specialised hospital for his ailment, at this juncture, when the assessee’s key role in the commission of economic offence by Rose Valley was prima facie apparent, there was deep rooted criminal conspiracy to cheat the public with an eye on personal profit, large number of innocent depositors had been duped of their hard-earned money, there was cool calculation and deliberate design by the accused persons to flourish the illegal chit fund business activities of Rose Valley and the release of assessee who was a very influential person having close contacts with high level personalities and politicians of West Bengal was likely hamper such investigation, in the larger interest of public and State, therefore, not inclined to reconsider the prayer for bail and direct his release on bail. Accordingly, the bail application of assessee sans merit and hence stood rejected.

FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER/JUDGEMENT

This is the third successive bail application of the petitioner Shrikant Mohta before this Court. The first bail application in BLAPL No.1983 of 2019 was rejected on 13.05.2019 and the second one in BLAPL No.5450 of 2019 was rejected on 02.01.2020. The petitioner approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court against the rejection order dated 02.01.2020 by preferring petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.839 of 2020 which was also dismissed on 10.02.2020. After the dismissal of the Special Leave Petition, the petitioner without preferring any application for bail before the learned trial Court, has approached this Court directly and filed the present bail application on 17.08.2020.

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