Delhi Court rejects Ashok Kumar Pal's plea challenging ED arrest in fake bank guarantee case

New Delhi [India], October 18 : The Patiala house court on Saturday rejected the plea of Ashok Kumar Pal, CFO of Reliance Power, challenging his arrest in the money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate has apprehended him in connection with this case.
He is being held in judicial custody after undergoing ED interrogation. Special judge Kiran Gupta rejected the plea moved by Ashok Kumar Pal.
During arguments on application, special counsel Zoheb Hossain, Special public prosecutors (SPPs) Naveen Kumar Matta and Simon Benjamin, alongwith Pranjal Tripathi, appeared for ED.
Advocate Vijay Agarwal appeared for Ashok Kumar Pal. The defence counsel submitted that the ED has arrested the present accused without obtaining prior permission of the court in terms of the settled law, even after filing the complaint before the present court.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Power Limited (RPL), in connection with a fake bank guarantee and forged invoicing case linked to alleged fund diversion.
According to sources, Pal, as the CFO of Reliance Power- a publicly listed company in which more than 75 per cent shares are held by the public - played a "crucial role" in the diversion of company funds and submission of forged financial documents.
The investigation pertains to a fraudulent Bank Guarantee (BG) of over Rs 68 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) tender.
Officials had said Pal was empowered by a board resolution to finalise, approve, and execute documents on behalf of RPL for the SECI bid. In this capacity, he allegedly conspired to submit a fake bank guarantee with the intent to cheat the PSU.
The ED's probe revealed that the bogus guarantee was issued in the name of "FirstRand Bank, Manila, Philippines - a location where the bank has no operational branch."
"The guarantee was arranged through Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd (BTPL), a small entity operating from a residential address with no credible record in providing such guarantees. BTPL director Partha Sarathi Biswal, already in judicial custody, is alleged to have assisted in executing the forged document," said the officials.
Investigators had further alleged that Pal approved fake transport invoices worth several crores to facilitate fund diversion. He reportedly cleared payments and managed paperwork through Telegram and WhatsApp - bypassing Reliance Power's official SAP and vendor master systems.
The ED also found that Pal used the services of a fake bank guarantee racket operating through spoofed email domains resembling those of major Indian banks, such as "s-bi.co.in" instead of the genuine "sbi.co.in". Similar lookalike domains were used to impersonate other banks, including Indian Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Punjab National Bank.
Officials said Pal's actions form part of a broader criminal conspiracy involving forged instruments and fraudulent communication channels aimed at deceiving public institutions and misappropriating funds from a listed company.