A Delhi court has granted pre-arrest bail to Ford India Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra and Director David Allen Schock in a fraud case filed by a car dealership owner.
Additional Sessions Judge Raj Rani granted him interim bail on production of bail bond for a period of 30 days in the amount of ₹5 lakh and asked them to join the investigation whenever asked, not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
Granting relief, the judge observed that the Investigating Officer (IO) has nowhere said that custodial interrogation or arrest of the two accused is required.
The IO said that Shock, who is a US resident, and Mehrotra have joined the investigation through video-conferencing, the court further said in an order dated September 6.
The complainant, who is the managing director of Libra Cars Pvt Ltd, said that he entered into an agreement in 2018 through the managing director and director of Ford India.
He said that Ford India or its directors as per agreement could not authorize any other service station workshop within 10 km radius of their showroom, but later they came to know of another service center operating within approx radius .
The complainant reportedly reported the matter to the company, but Ford India sent a notice regarding the dues and terminated the dealership in 2019, causing wrongful loss to the company. ₹35 crores.
Lawyers appearing for Mehrotra and Shock submitted that their clients are well-educated and professionals of impeccable reputation and they have been falsely implicated in the case.
The lawyers said that the complainant has set up the complaint as “an explicit retaliation to terminate its business relationship with Ford India with the intention of extorting money from the company”.
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