DHFL Bank Fraud Case: Supreme Court Grants Bail To Promoters Kapil, Dheeraj Wadhawan - Here's What We Know

(MENAFN- Live Mint) India's top judicial body, the Supreme Court of India, on Tuesday, 16 December 2025, granted bail to Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, citing that the proceedings can not be used to prolong custody, reported the news portal Bar and Bench.

According to the news report, the Supreme Court bench comprising judges JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, said that the prolonged incarceration of the accused in the case without a trial has violated the constitutional right to liberty and speedy trial.

Also Read | SC cancels bail for ex-DHFL promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan in loan scam case

The court also said that brothers Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan have spent more than five years in custody, while other co-accused in the related cases have been released on bail.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the investigation against the two related to the ₹57,000 crore DHFL bank fraud case is complete, reported the news portal.

The court also noted that the chargesheet ran to four lakh pages, listed 736 witnesses, and was accompanied by 17 trunks of documents and additional digital records of more than two terabytes. The judges also said that even if the court holds a trial every day, it could not be completed in less than two or three years, as per the news report.

What did Wadhawan's lawyer say?

Prakhar Parekh, Partner at Rashmikant & Partners, who had advised the Wadhwans since the beginning of the case, said that pre-trial incarceration should be an exception and not a rule. The court's decision, released on Tuesday, prioritises the liberty and the rights of the accused, he said.

Also Read | Top court upholds Piramal's DHFL resolution plan, grants it funds recovered

“The Supreme Court has emphasised that pre-trial incarceration should be an exception, not the rule. This stance prioritises liberty and the rights of the accused, ensuring that lengthy proceedings are not used as a ruse to continue custody,” said Parekh on Tuesday.

₹57,000 crore bank fraud case

The bank fraud case was over the loans and credit facilities amounting to ₹57,252 crore, involving DHFL, a non-banking financial company (NBFC), which took loans from a consortium of 17 banks.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged that ₹34,926 crore was siphoned off through shell companies linked to the Wadhawans, registering an FIR against the promoters, according to the news portal's report.

Also Read | DHFL scam: CBI arrests director Dheeraj Wadhawan in bank fraud case

The government agency imposed allegations on the promoters of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, falsification of accounts and corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The news report highlights that the first chargesheet was filed in October 2022, and the accused have been in custody since April 2020. Over the years, CBI reportedly filed supplementary chargesheets naming a total of 110 accused, including 70 companies and 40 individuals.

The Wadhawans were granted bail in ten other cases arising from the same transactions, including the cases which were under the PMLA or the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Yes Bank fraud case, but they were kept in bail for this one, for which they received bail on 16 December 2025.

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