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Hiten Dalal surrenders in Bombay court

Our Correspondent in Bombay

Stockbroker Hiten Dalal, who has been convicted in a 1992 scam case, surrendered at a special court on Wednesday. He has been taken into custody to serve a one-year sentence.

Kiran K Kapoor, additional public prosecutor at the Bombay high court, said that Dalal had filed a petition for two more weeks' time before turning himself in, but the court rejected his plea and directed the police to take him to the prison.

On July 25, Justice D K Trivedi had directed him to surrender before his court on August 8. The judge had also asked Dalal not to leave the limits of Bombay and Thane and report to the court everyday.

Earlier on July 11, the Supreme Court upheld a 1993 judgement of a Bombay Special Court sentencing tainted stock broker Hiten Dalal for defrauding Standard Chartered Bank of over Rs 780 million in connection with transactions in shares during the securities scam in 1992.

Dismissing Dalal's appeal against the special court order, a three-judge Bench comprising Justice B N Kirpal, Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Brijesh Kumar had imposed a further cost of Rs 10,000 on him.

The Supreme Court had also upheld the trial court order imposing a fine of Rs 100,000 on Dalal.

On April 30, 1993, Special Judge S N Variava, who is now a Supreme Court judge, had held Dalal guilty under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act and had sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 100,000.

The court had also said that in case of non-payment of fine Dalal would undergo further rigorous imprisonment of three months.

The complaint against Dalal was filed by the bank through its director Badrinath Banerjee alleging that four cheques for Rs 270 million, Rs 145 million, Rs 170 million and Rs 199.5 million given by Dalal to the bank were dishonoured.

The bank had said that these cheques were given by Dalal in discharge of his liability to the bank arising from differences in the contract rates and delivery rates in transaction of securities undertaken by the bank at his instance.

When the cheques were dishonoured, the bank on June 1, 1992 issued a notice to Dalal to pay up the money within 15 days' time.

The prosecution alleged that the accused failed to pay the amounts within 15 days thereafter and thus committed the offence punishable under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act.

The Special Court in 1993 had said that it has to take judicial note of the fact that there had been a major fraud in the country following which the court was established.

Terming the securities scam as a major blow to the economy of the country, the special court had said "the accused is guilty under section 138 of the NI Act.

"I, therefore, hold that the accused be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of one year and a fine of Rs 100,000, in default of which he would undergo further rigorous imprisonment of three months," Justice Variava had said in 1993.

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