Bombay High Court gives relief to builder Niranjan Hiranandani in PF case

11 April,2018 07:28 PM IST |  Mumbai  |  PTI

A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani on Wednesday set aside the charge-sheet


Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court today quashed a CBI charge-sheet against prominent city-based builder Niranjan Hiranandani in a case related to alleged non-depositing of provident fund (PF) dues of his employees. Hiranandani, 61, approached the High Court earlier this year and sought quashing of the charge-sheet filed in September 2010 by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly not depositing PF dues of over Rs 9 crore of the employees of his group.

A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani on Wednesday set aside the charge-sheet.

The court said that a prior enquiry contemplated under section 7A of the Provident Fund Act was not conducted, hence further prosecution was illegal. The CBI had charged Hiranandani with criminal conspiracy and cheating under the provisions of IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the CBI, the Hiranandani Group didn't deposit provident fund of its employees with the PF authority between 2003 and 2006. The non-payment, as per a report submitted by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation during its departmental enquiry, was to the tune of Rs 9.36 crore.

Apart from Hiranandani, two employees of the group and four EPFO officials were named as accused in the case. Hiranandani, in his petition, had argued that he could not be held responsible vicariously merely because he is a director of the company.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
bombay high court anti-corruption bureau
Related Stories