High Court grants interim bail to solar panel firm director accused of misappropriating Govt funds

Delhi High Court has granted interim bail of eight weeks to the director of a private company dealing with solar panels accused of misappropriating government funds which were to be incurred for the production of solar energy.

Justice Yogesh Khanna directed the release of Rakesh Jain, who has been in custody since October 11, 2019, on interim bail asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with a surety of the like amount.

The Court also directed Jain to furnish the Aadhaar Card number and his mobile number with the Jail Superintendent before getting released from the custody and said that accused shall not leave the country without prior permission.

Jain's Counsel told the court that his client has already deposited around Rs 2 crore as a refund of the amount obtained as subsidies from the Central Government and further if some more time is given, Jain will deposit the balance amount.

According to Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Jain was a director of Pragat Akshay Urja Limited and major portions of the subsidy for solar panels was diverted from his account.

EOW has alleged that Jain, in conspiracy with other accused persons, started taking loan in favour of Pragat Akshay Urja Limited from February 2017 onwards against the term deposits (of subsidy) as security and used the loans to settle previous loans.

It said that an amount of more than Rs 4 crore was siphoned off by Jain and other accused persons after obtaining subsidies from the government adding that nothing was done for the project except diverting the funds to their interest.EOW alleged that their conduct had affected a large number of common people by depriving them of the benefits of the scheme.

Source Link