The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of former chief financial officer (CFO) of Bhushan Steel Nitin Johari who came to court claiming that the fraud alleged against him by the serious frauds investigation office (SFIO) has 287 other accused while he alone was still in jail.
Johari sought a two-month bail citing co-morbid conditions that posed a grave risk to his health in jail. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde remarked, “You are the brain behind it” as the court refused to accept the argument by Johari’s lawyer senior advocate Kapil Sibal that he was just an employee of the company.
The SFIO arrested Johari in May 2019 and filed a charge-sheet the same year claiming that while as CFO, Johari fraudulently obtained letters of credit from banks worth nearly Rs 20,000 crore by furnishing false documents. SFIO further alleged in the chargesheet that during 2016-17, Johari inflated the inventory of raw materials to avail enhanced working capital from lenders.
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