Delhi High Court denies anticipatory bail to woman accused of Rs. 1.65 crore spice trading scam
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna [08-07-2024]

Read Order: JYOTI GUPTA v. STATE NCT OF DELHI [DEL HC- BAIL APPLN. 2130/2024]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 17, 2024: The Delhi High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a woman accused of involvement in a Rs. 1.65 crore spice trading scam.

A single-judge bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishnadismissed the bail application filed by Jyoti Gupta under Section 438 read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

According to the FIR registered at the South East Police Station in Delhi, Gupta, along with her husband Neeraj Dengre alias Neeraj Gupta and other co-accused, allegedly approached the complainant, Umesh Kumar Goel, proprietor of Kuru Agro Products, to defraud him of a large sum of money. The accused portrayed themselves as agents in the spice trading business and took orders for the supply of various items, assuring the complainant that the goods would be stored in the Sudarshan Cold Storage in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

However, the complainant alleged that the accused created a false paper trail, including the generation of fake invoices, to deceive him. No goods were actually delivered or stored in the cold storage as claimed. The complainant stated that he had paid a sum of Rs. 97,85,475 to the accused persons.

Jyoti Gupta, in her defense, claimed that she had no active participation in the alleged incident and her role was solely administrative, limited to signing documents at her husband's request without knowledge of the transactions. She further contended that her husband had merely introduced the complainant to various persons in the spice trade, after which they had direct dealings without his involvement.

Despite Gupta's claims of cooperation with the investigation, the police alleged that she had failed to join the investigation after the withdrawal of her first anticipatory bail application. The court also noted serious allegations of forged invoices and the money received by Gupta's firm, Kanishka Traders, which is yet to be traced and recovered. Considering the totality of the circumstances, the Delhi High Court found no grounds for grant of anticipatory bail, thereby dismissing her application.