Ford India MD & Director granted anticipatory bail in alleged cheating case by Delhi Court

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Ford India Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra and US national and Director David Allan Schock in connection with the Libra Cars fraud case. 

During the proceedings, advocate Vijay Aggarwal who appeared for Mehrotra and advocate Rohit Kochhar who represented Schock argued that Ford India had nothing to do with the case since it was Libra Cars that had failed to follow the terms and conditions in the agreement of the dealership. Advocate Aggarwal asserted that the charges in the FIR were 'civil' in nature and that the complainant had registered the case after more than 18 months of delay on his part, given that the dealership was terminated in March 2019.

After hearing the arguments, Additional sessions judge Raj Rani accepted the bail application of Mehrotra and Schock and said that “in the event of (their) arrest, applicant(s) be released on interim bail for a period of 30 days on furnishing of bail bonds in a sum of ₹5 lakh.”

“IO submitted that accused David Allan Schock, who is a resident of USA, has joined the investigation through video conferencing and Anurag Mehrotra has also joined the investigation. IO has also not stated that the specimen signature of the applicant is required,” the court stated, granting bail to Mehrotra and Schock. The judge further directed the duo to join the investigation whenever asked by the investigating officer and to not tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses in the case.

Ford cheating case

The case pertains to a criminal complaint filed by Libra cars- which was a Ford dealer for the GT Karnal Road, New Delhi- with the Economic Offence Wing. The complaint has been filed against Ford India and its senior management, alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust. Libra Cars have claimed that Ford India violated the terms of the agreement between the parties by appointing another dealer within a radius of 10 km from the complainant's showroom. Based on the criminal complaint, an FIR was filed against the Managing Director and the US-based Director of Ford India.