A city court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application by the director of Ardee City’s builder accused of forging documents to get a licence for around 40 acres of land owned by the HSVP and not developing the area earmarked for EWS plots in Sector 57.
Denying the application of Gopal Das Estates & Housing director Shibani Verma Kapur, additional sessions judge Jasbir Singh observed that the charges were serious and taking such offences “lightly” would be an “injustice”.
“Taking such types of offences very lightly and neglecting such modus operandi and enlarging them on anticipatory bail is nothing but injustice to the honest and hard-working and weaker sections of society,” the judge said.
The court also said property fraud by builders was becoming more common.
“Such types of property fraud being committed by powerful builders have become the order of the day and have a larger impact on the society. The modus operandi in the case suggests meticulous planning and deft execution to cheat EWS,” the judge said.
In September 2021, Gurgaon police had two FIRs registered against the company and its senior officials for allegedly forging documents to get the licence for the land from the DTCP.
DTCP got to know about the alleged fraud in 2015, when the developer applied for a revision of Ardee City’s layout. After writing to the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the revenue department for the status of the land, DTCP found out that the land on which EWS plots were to be developed in Sector 57 was not even owned by the builder. In 2021, DTCP cancelled the licence and filed the second complaint against Gopal Das Estates and Housing.
Shibani Verma Kapur, through her lawyer Vishal Gupta, made a submission that the FIR was registered due to vested interests. “I was not responsible for obtaining any licence for Ardee City. I was neither the employee nor the director and was not holding any position in the company in the year 2002… Custodial interrogation is not required as the entire case is based on documentary evidence,” Kapur had argued.