BENGALURU: The Special Court for CBI cases ordered the framing of charges against an Enforcement Directorate (ED) official for offences punishable under Section 384 IPC and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Amended), for allegedly extorting money in a case involving harassment over instant loan offered by mobile apps linked to China. The accused official is Lalith Bazad.
The principal special judge for CBI cases, K L Ashok, passed the order on the application filed by the accused for discharge from the case, in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge-sheeted him.
“The statement of the witnesses is backed by relevant Call Details Records (CDR) extract and CCTV footage. Thus, there is ample material that makes out a clear prima facie case against the accused. While a strong suspicion is sufficient to frame charges, in this case, there is a clear prima facie case that implicates the accused. The material on record reflects that the accused is a public servant who is a responsible ED official, and had extorted money from Mikhil Innani, director of Apollo Finvest,” the court added.
According to the case registered on June 1, 2021, Lalith Bazad, who is on deputation from the Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, while working as enforcement officer of ED, Bengaluru, demanded and accepted undue advantage of Rs 5 lakh from Innani, who was summoned to the ED office on February 2, 2021.
Investigation revealed that an ECIR was registered on January 13, 2021, to look into allegations of harassment and Chinese connection to mobile apps giving instant loans. The accused was assisting Manoj Mittal, deputy director, ED, who was the investigating officer. Bazad initially demanded Rs 50 lakh in cash from Innani, when he visited the ED office in Bengaluru to avoid involving Apollo Finvest in the inquiry, failing which he threatened that he would entangle Apollo Finvest with unnecessary legal action and spoil its business.
Money collected on pub premises
The accused, who was present at a pub on the night of February 9, 2021, allegedly accepted Rs 5 lakh, which was arranged by Innani’s cousin through some known persons in Bengaluru. The same was collected by one of the parking staff of the pub, and kept in the car of the accused as per instructions.