HC directs interim release of Bhushan Steel's erstwhile promoter Neeraj Singal

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed interim release of Bhushan Steel's ex-promoter Neeraj Singal, arrested by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for allegedly siphoning off Rs 20 billion funds.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel declined SFIO's oral plea for stay of its interim order. The court granted Singal interim relief on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each.

Singal, represented by advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, was arrested on August 8 in relation to an SFIO investigation into the affairs of Bhushan Steel Ltd and Bhushan Steel and Power Ltd, pursuant to a May 2016 order of the Centre under the Companies Act.

He was the first person ever to be arrested by SFIO which was given this power only in August last year.

A habeas corpus petition, filed through advocates Ranjana Roy Gawai, Arshdeep Singh and Hemant Shah, has also challenged certain provisions of the Companies Act on grant of bail to persons arrested under the Act, claiming that they were violative of fundamental rights as they imposed "unreasonable restrictions".

The plea has claimed that his arrest was illegal as no grounds for arrest were communicated to him orally or in writing by the probe agency at the time of arrest.