Over a week after Stayzilla co-founder and CEO Yogendra Vasupal was granted bail by Madras HC, co-founder and CFO Sachit Singhi has been denied anticipatory bail for the second time.
The principal sessions Court in Chennai dismissed the anticipatory bail application.
After Vasupal was arrested on March 14 by Central Crime Branch in Chennai for alleged cheating and non-payment dues of Rs 1.7 crore to Jig Saw Solutions, the police were reportedly looking for Sachit Singhi as well.
Vasupal was granted bail on April 11 after spending nearly a month in jail. However, after first being denied on March 28, Singhi’s anticipatory bail has been denied yet again.
After Vasupal was granted bail, Singhi sought for anticipatory bail on April 13. In the plea hearing on Wednesday, the city public prosecutor ML Jegan asked for the remaining disputed amount to be deposited by the second accused and that the court will then have no objection in granting him bail.
When Singhi’s counsel submitted that it was difficult to deposit the remaining disputed amount, the bail plea was dismissed by the principal sessions judge Nazeema Banu.
“Sachit's anticipatory bail has been dismissed despite he being the second accused. This is not common when first accused has the bail and is outside. Very unusual,” said Vasupal.
Vasupal was granted bail on April 11 but was asked to deposit Rs 40 lakh as security in the court. He was also asked to report in front of the investigating officer at 10am every morning for two weeks.
Stayzilla suspended operations on February 24, claiming that it will restructure itself and reboot operations. Following this, Aditya CS of Jig Saw claimed that the company did not pay him his dues since January 2016 and filed a case against Vasupal and CFO Sachit Singhi. The night before his arrest, Vasupal had also put out a blog saying he was being harassed by his landlord and by Jig Saw Solutions. Voodoo dolls were sent to the CFO's house.