Kalra denied anticipatory bail, HC takes up appeal
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday denied restaurateur Navneet Kalra's anticipatory bail plea, noting that there was "prima facie incriminating evidence" against the businessman where he made "fraudulent representation" to needy customers by taking exorbitant advance payments for oxygen concentrators which he neither provided to them nor refunded the money.
Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Garg in his order stated that the allegations raised against Kalra were "serious" and that he made "fraudulent representation" claiming that he was selling premium portable oxygen concentrators which were manufactured with German collaboration and they were sufficient to meet the requirements of two persons. The court also noted that Kalra collected advance payments from several needy persons for the supplying the oxygen concentrators and kept on postponing the delivery on the pretext of shipment being held-up.
"He kept increasing the price of the same and eventually, he neither supplied the product to several persons, nor refunded their advance amount," ASJ Garg stated.
The court further said that the concentrators which were being sold were not manufactured with German collaboration and were manufactured in China and that they did not even have adequate output to meet the requirement of even one person.
"Mobile phone of applicant/accused which reportedly contains incriminating WhatsApp chats with customers, details of calls made to co-accused persons and is accounts are required to be seized," the court order read, adding that Kalra's custodial interrogation was required to be carried out "to unearth the entire conspiracy hatched between him and a number of co-accused persons".
Meanwhile, Kalra on Thursday also moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court's order dismissing his anticipatory bail.
In an urgent evening hearing which went on for two hours, before a single judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on behalf of Kalra, told the court that he has been hounded and is being made a victim by the media.
He further argued that he had not indulged in any kind of hoarding or blackmarketing of oxygen concentrators since even the government had not fixed a set market price for such medical items. The prosecution however alleged that Kalra sold faulty oxygen concentrators at exorbitant prices which might even have led to people dying as a result. After making part arguments, the hearing was adjourned to 12 pm today (Friday). Other co-accused persons, including Matrix CEO Gaurav Khanna, have been granted bail in the case.
