Delhi court revokes bail of realtor in 2023 homebuyer cheating case

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday cancelled the bail granted to a builder in a case of allegedly cheating homebuyers in a project in Greater Noida, saying he repeatedly violated bail conditions, failed to honour directions and abused the concession. Judicial Magistrate Ankit Garg was hearing the prosecution’s application seeking cancellation of regular bail granted to Rahul Chamola, the director of 'Nivas Promoters Pvt Ltd', on December 13, 2023. The court said Garg's conduct demonstrates that the conditions imposed by the court for bail were repeatedly disregarded. It said that in February 2024, despite the specific direction requiring physical appearance on every date, he sought exemption from personal appearance, which was allowed on the imposition of a Rs 5,000 cost but by October of the same year, he failed to pay the cost. The court said that in April 2025, the accused remained absent, compelling the issuance of bailable warrants to secure his presence. It said, “The record further shows that the present application for cancellation of bail itself came to be necessitated on account of the continued disregard of the conditions of bail. Vide order dated May 7, 2026, the Investigating Officer (IO) informed the court that despite multiple efforts, the accused could not be traced." The court said that in June this year, although the accused joined the investigation, he left the probe midway, and the next month, although the accused had been directed to appear physically, he appeared only through videoconferencing. It said, “The accused has consistently disregarded the express conditions upon which liberty was granted. The judicial record demonstrates repeated defaults extending over a considerable period, despite repeated indulgence shown by successive presiding officers.” The court said that the accused abused the privilege of bail, repeatedly skipped court dates, forced the court to issue warrants, gave conflicting information about his address, and ignored orders even while the court was deciding whether to cancel his bail. "Persistent and wilful violation of the conditions of bail and repeated misuse of the concession granted by the court constitute independent and legally recognised grounds for cancellation of bail,” the magistrate said. He said the material available on record demonstrates that despite repeated warnings, repeated imposition of costs, repeated opportunities and repeated judicial directions extending over more than two years, the accused continued to disregard the conditions imposed by the court. Slamming the conduct, the magistrate said it “unequivocally demonstrates abuse of the concession extended by the court.” He said that the accused wilfully and repeatedly violated the express conditions of the December 2023 failed to honour repeated directions of the court despite several opportunities, and misused the concession of bail. “The cumulative conduct of the accused leaves this court with no reason to believe that any further indulgence would secure compliance with the conditions imposed by the court,” the magistrate said, cancelling the bail. The prosecution had earlier alleged that Chamola had induced a homebuyer to purchase flats in his project ‘Oneleaf Troy’ at GH01D, Sector-10, Greater Noida. However, he had failed to deliver the flats to the homebuyer and misappropriated the entire amount given in advance. According to the complaint, to further dupe people, he changed the name of the project in conspiracy with a man named Shelendra Sharma to ‘Renowned', launched by Renowned Group through companies owned by Sharma, who is also a co-accused in another FIR against Chamola. The prosecution also claimed that Chamola enticed buyers into investing in the project, which never got completed and left the buyers in the lurch. PTI MNR SKY SKY