Economic Offences Affect Nation's Financial Health and Must Be Treated Sternly: HC

Time of India

3 hours ago

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court recently refused bail to an accused in a Rs145 crore scam involving alleged financial fraud against farmers. The court observed that economic offences pose a serious threat to society and must be handled with a firm approach.
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It described such crimes as a 'class apart', citing their long-lasting damage to the country's financial health and public morality.
Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke, while quoting Supreme Court rulings, stated, "The consistent view is that socio-economic offences have deep-rooted conspiracies affecting the moral fibre of the society and causing irreparable harm which needs to be dealt with sternly." She noted that offences involving public funds cannot be treated on par with ordinary crimes due to their systemic impact.
The accused, Ramanrao Bolla, approached the court for bail on the basis of his cooperation during the investigation and his clean criminal record. However, the court declined relief, stating that the magnitude of the fraud and its effect on the rural population demanded a cautious approach.
Strongly opposing the bail, additional public prosecutor Neeraj Jawde contended that Bolla conspired with others to fraudulently obtain agricultural loans in the names of multiple farmers.
"The petitioner is one of the conspirators and owns warehouses and hatched a conspiracy to dupe farmers, got opened their bank accounts, obtained loans, and amount of loans, which is public money, is siphoned by the applicant.
Total amount siphoned by him comes to Rs145 crores. Forensic Audit Report was collected and involvement of the applicant revealed," Jawde told the court.
Bolla, who has been in custody since October 28, 2023, faces charges under the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999.
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Justice Joshi-Phalke also highlighted the human cost of the alleged fraud. "From the evidence, it is apparent that by hatching conspiracy by the petitioner and other co-accused, poor farmers were deceived and some of them committed suicide and some of them are under mental stress," Justice Joshi-Phalke noted.
The court relied on past Supreme Court precedents to underline that bail in cases of economic offences should not be granted routinely due to the gravity and far-reaching consequences of such crimes.