The Supreme Court has rejected Amit Bhardwaj’s petition seeking lower deposition of Rs 2 crore. Bhardwaj, the key accused of the major GainBitcoin scam, was directed to deposit Rs 10 crore by the court.
The apex court granted bail to Bhardwaj and directed him to deposit Rs 10 crore by 2nd October 2019. However, Deepak Prakash, Bhardwaj’s representative, filed an appeal on 17th September requesting the court to revise the amount. With an offered amount of Rs 2 crore, he wrote that in compliance of the Annexure A-1 order (3rd April), out of total sum of Rs 10 crore, the applicant will be making a part deposit for Rs 2 crore in the registry of the court, by way of a fixed deposit amounting to Rs 2 crore from the account of petitioner.
Deadline extended by three months
While granting the bail, the Supreme Court directed Bhardwaj to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. However, the ED (Enforcement Directorate), Mumbai’s investigative officer and its representative suggested in the court that despite being summoned three times in the last six months, Bhardwaj has skipped all three. Following the implication, the two-judge bench rejected the application seeking to deposit Rs 2 crore. Nevertheless, SC has extended the submission deadline of Rs 10 crore by three months.
Lack of intense investigation
Interestingly enough, the CBI investigation is something that both, Bhardwaj as well as the investors & victims in the GainBitcoin case, have been trying to seek for the past two years now. Neither the court nor the government has directed a CBI investigation into the matter.
Suggestive of Bhardwaj’s inability to appear for all the separate cases and investigations across the nation due to its lousy health, Prakash asserted that the case was not a criminal but a civil one in nature. He added that they have demanded that all the cases and investigations should be handed over to a single agency.
Over 8,000 GainBitcoin victims have already written to President Ram Nath Kovind, questioning the expertise of the police over the allegedly compromised investigation. The investors also demanded rejection of Bhardwaj’s temporary bail and auction of his property.
The investigative agencies and the courts must look through the international perspective as the massive Bitcoin scam has been claimed to be in the range of Rs 90,000 crore.
