Court Grants Bail to Ex-BPSL Director Aarti Singal in Rs 5,500 Crore Fraud Case

The court said that Singal deserved the benefits of the special status for women provided in the Companies Act.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: The Quint)

Delhi's Special CBI court on Tuesday granted bail to Aarti Singal, the former director of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL), in a Rs 5,500 crore fraud case.

The court of Special Judge Sumit Das observed that Singal deserved to be granted the benefit of special status to women, as provided under the provisions of Section 437 and Section 212(6) of the Companies Act, 2013, taking into consideration her role of being a passive woman director.

Vijay Aggarwal, who was appearing for Singal, had argued that she was 61 years old and a homemaker, and was not involved in the day-to-day office affairs and merely signed on the documents and cheques.

The counsel argued that being a housewife, she did not have full knowledge about the work of the company.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has been investigating the case. Singal was arrested on 21 March, and a day later, she was produced before the court.

The court noted that no independent role of Singal has been brought out on record by the SFIO, except that she had jointly with her husband signed cheques or issued instructions to the bank for issuance of Demand Draft (DD), and hence, released her on bail.

The court asked Aarti Singal to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh with a surety of a like amount. The court also put conditions that she would have to visit the SFIO office daily for the next 20 days.