HC grants bailto SP leader Vinay Shankar Tiwari, kin in loan default case

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday granted bail to former MLA and Samajwadi Party leader Vinay Shankar Tiwari and his relative Ajit Pandey in a case related to an alleged ₹754-crore loan default. The bail was given by a single-judge bench of justice Subhash Vidyarthi.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Tiwari from his New Hyderabad residence in the state capital on April 7, and Pandey from his native village in Maharajganj district in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Pandey used to manage the company’s business from the Noida office. Tiwari is the son of the late Hari Shankar Tiwari, former minister and six-time MLA from Chillupar assembly segment in Gorakhpur district. Hari Shankar Tiwari was a cabinet minister in five consecutive state governments. A key figure in eastern U.P. politics between 1985 and 2022, he had a considerable sway in the Gorakhpur division.

Vinay Shankar Tiwari is accused of misappropriating a cash credit limit of ₹1129.44 crore sanctioned by a consortium of seven banks led by the Bank of India.

Out of this amount, ₹754 crore was allegedly not returned to banks.

According to the ED, the funds were allegedly diverted to associate companies for purchasing private properties and to other projects for which the loan was not sanctioned.

Following charges of money laundering and based on the CBI’s FIR after complaints from banks, a case was registered by the ED.

The ED attached properties worth ₹103 crore during a raid in February 2024.

In March 2024, the ED seized assets worth ₹30.86 crore, including commercial, residential, and agricultural land in Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Noida.

These properties were registered under the names of Tiwari, and firms including Royal Empire Marketing Pvt Ltd, and Kandarp Construction Pvt Ltd.