Delhi HC junks Amtek's Arvind Dham's bail plea in INR 250-bln bank fraud case
This story was originally published at 18:59 IST on 19 August 2025
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NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Tuesday rejected a bail petition filed by Arvind Dham, former chairman of the Amtek Group, in connection with a case of defrauding banks to the tune of INR 250 billion. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Dham on Jul. 9, 2024, under provisions of money-laundering laws in the case of ACIL Ltd., an Amtek Group company. Subsequently, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi had granted his custody to the agency.
The Enforcement Directorate had initiated an investigation on the basis of first information reports registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, following complaints by IDBI Bank Ltd. and Bank of Maharashtra. The complainants had alleged diversion of bank loans through cheating, fraud, and criminal breach of trust, causing wrongful loss to them. The case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The Enforcement Directorate said its probe had revealed that the Amtek Group had defaulted on loans exceeding INR 250 billion from more than 15 banks. The group companies, namely, ARG Ltd., ACIL, Amtek Auto Ltd., Metalic Forging Ltd., and Castex Technologies Ltd., along with other group companies, were taken to insolvency, where a resolution led to a haircut of more than 80% for the banks, causing substantial losses to the financial system, the probe agency said.
Further investigation showed Dham was the beneficial owner of several benami properties in companies that had employees of the Amtek Group, such as peons, drivers, and field staff, as well as persons with no links to the group companies, acting as directors, the agency said. Dham continued to possess such properties beneficially held by him and never disclosed this to any of the creditors, the agency added.
In December, the Delhi High Court upheld Dham's arrest by the directorate and the Rouse Avenue court's subsequent remand order. The high court had said Dham's arrest was not against the provisions of Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and that judicial review of the grounds for arrest does not invite an adverse inference.
Tuesday, shares of IDBI Bank ended 1.5% higher at INR 89.55 on the National Stock Exchange. Shares of Bank of Maharashtra ended 1.0% higher at INR 55.43. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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