Delhi court grants relief to Ford India MD and director in cheating case

A Delhi court has granted relief to Ford India managing director Anurag Mehrotra and director David Allan Schock in a case of cheating filed by a dealer of the car maker.

Additional sessions judge Raj Rani at the Rohini court, while allowing the bail application of Mehrotra and Schock on Monday, directed that "in the event of (their) arrest, applicant(s) be released on interim bail for a period of 30 days on furnishing of bail bonds in a sum of ₹5 lakh".

The judge asked them to join the investigation whenever asked by the investigating officer and not to tamper with the evidence/influence the witnesses.

According to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, a case was filed by Libra Cars, a Ford dealer located on GT Karnal Road, New Delhi, in November last year, alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust on the grounds that Ford India had violated the terms of the agreement between the parties by appointing another dealer within a radius of 10km from the complainant's showroom.

While advocate Vijay Aggarwal appeared for Mehrotra, advocate Rohit Kochhar represented Schock during the arguments.

Aggarwal told the court that the allegations made in the First Information Report (FIR) were purely civil in nature and there was a delay of more than 18 months on part of the complainant in the registration of the case. The dealership was terminated in March 2019.

Aggarwal and Kochhar further argued that Ford India has nothing to do with the alleged offences as it is not the company which cheated Libra Cars, rather the dealer himself cheated the public at large as he did not follow the terms and conditions in the agreement of dealership.

While granting relief, the court observed that the investigating officer has nowhere stated that custodial interrogation/arrest of Ford India MD and director is required.

"IO submitted that accused David Allan Schock, who is a resident of USA, has joined the investigation through video conferencing and Anurag Mehrotra has also joined the investigation. IO has also not stated that the specimen signature of applicant is required," the order states.

It says the reply filed by the investigating officer also states that the complaint (by Libra) is devoid of any substance.