Nagpur HC stays proceedings in Rs 400 crore CBI loan fraud case against MLA Ratnakar Gutte

The Bombay High Court has put a temporary halt to a ₹400-crore bank loan fraud case against Gangakhed MLA Ratnakar Gutte. The court restrained the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Nagpur from proceeding with charge framing or hearings. Gutte argued the CBI case mirrors an existing Maharashtra CID case. The High Court has given the CBI four weeks to respond.

Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted interim stay on the proceedings in the Central Bureau of Investigation's ₹400-crore bank loan fraud case against Gangakhed MLA Ratnakar Gutte, restraining the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Nagpur, from framing charges or holding hearings on charge.

The interim order was passed by a division bench of Justices Urmila Joshi Phalke and Pravin S. Patil while hearing Gutte's petition seeking quashing of the FIR, chargesheet and the CJM's summoning order.

Gutte has argued that the CBI case is based on allegations identical to those levelled in an earlier Maharashtra CID case, in which he is already facing trial in Mumbai.

“…in the meantime, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nagpur, shall not proceed with the matter, either by framing charge or hearing on framing of charge,” the bench recorded.

Appearing for Gutte, Advocate Vijay Agarwal challenged the validity of the CJM's summoning order, calling it a “four-line order” lacking any reasoning. He submitted that the order failed to show the mandatory judicial application of mind before issuance of process.

Agarwal cited the Supreme Court's three-judge bench ruling, which stresses the need for a reasoned order while summoning individuals in criminal proceedings. He also referred to Sections 190 and 204 of the CrPC, arguing that the CJM's order did not satisfy statutory requirements.

The CBI case pertains to an alleged multi-bank loan fraud in which Gutte and his associates are accused of inflating bills and manipulating accounts linked to his sugarcane and allied businesses. He is also facing similar loan fraud cases before a special court in Mumbai.

The High Court granted the CBI four weeks to file its reply.

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Source: EconomicTimes
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