DHFL fraud: 11 of 40 accused turn approvers for CBI

Eleven of the accused, out of 40 individuals named along with the promoters — Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan — of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) in a ₹34,000 crore bank fraud case, have turned approver for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and have been granted pardon under the criminal procedure code (CrPC), people familiar with the matter said.

- Neeraj Chauhan

NEW DELHI:

The development, officials say, is a shot in the arm for CBI's prosecutors who can now use these approvers to unearth the entire conspiracy and make a strong case against the Wadhawan brothers during the trial.

Among those who have turned approver for the CBI are businessmen Sudhakar Shetty and Abhay Adukia, and film producer Parag Sanghvi.

They approached a Special CBI court in Delhi this week asking to be made approvers under section 306 and 307 of the CrPC (now sections 343 and 344 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) which deal with the tender of pardon to an accomplice.

According to an order issued by the court of Special Judge, Ashwani Kumar Sarpal, at Rouse Avenue Courts on Tuesday, Shetty claimed in his plea that "he wants to disclose facts regarding the DHFL fraud and help CBI in its probe and trial".