Yes Bank Scam: Incarcerated Rana Kapoor's daughter seeks exemption from court appearance

In a key development in the Yes Bank scam, Rakhee Kapoor-Tandon, the daughter of incarcerated banker Rana Kapoor, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking exemption from in-person appearance before the trial court in a money laundering case. Kapoor-Tandon is a non-resident Indian (NRI) and holds a residence permit in the United Kingdom. She expressed her inability to travel owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions, according to the plea.

After a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court rejected Kapoor-Tandon's plea seeking an exemption from in-person appearance, Vijay Aggarwal, the counsel on behalf of the petitioner, filed the plea and also appealed for her application to be considered as she has not been named in the recent charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The petitioner is an NRI, residing permanently outside India since 2016. At present, she is a resident of London, residing with her two minor children. The petitioner is unable to travel in view of various travel restrictions imposed by Government of UK, Government of India, civil aviation department and other agencies in the prevailing COVID-19 factors," the plea read.

CBI remands Rana Kapoor's daughter for 'complicity'

Earlier in September, a special CBI court observed that Kapoor's kin, including his two daughters, are 'beneficiaries' of the Yes Bank fraud case and remanded them before it. The CBI also held that the duo has caused a wrongful and substantial loss of Rs 4,000 crore of public money. Further, the court observed that they showed 'complicity' with the main accused Rana Kapoor and they have been the 'beneficiary of the amount fraudulently and dishonestly obtained by Kapoor'. 

The court order read, "They have received fraudulently and dishonestly the illegal amount to be a corporate loan of Rs 300 crore, Rs 300 crore, Rs 600 crores, so they are beneficiaries of the said amount."

Rana Kapoor's arrest in Yes Bank Scam

Rana Kapoor was arrested by the ED on March 8, 2020, after 30 hours of questioning. The ED has alleged that Kapoor misused his position as the Chief Executive Officer of Yes Bank to benefit his daughters' companies. According to the agency, loans worth Rs 30,000 crore were sanctioned by Yes Bank when he was at the helm of affairs. Out of these, advances of Rs. 20,000 crore became NPAs (non-performing assets).

As per the CBI, Rana Kapoor had entered a criminal conspiracy with DHFL's Kapil Wadhawan, where Yes Bank invested Rs.3700 crore in short-term debentures of DHFL from April-June 2018.

After the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yes Bank co-founder moved a bail application citing a threat to his life. The plea mentioned that the Yes Bank founder's existing medical conditions such as bronchial asthma, chronic immunodeficiency syndrome, severe hypertension and depression put him at a high risk of a lung infection if he contracted COVID-19 in jail.

Additionally, it was argued that Kapoor needed to stay at home and get home-cooked food. But he continues to languish in jail as this plea and other subsequent applications were rejected.