High court refuses to quash 11 FIRs against Roshan Saldhana in ₹40 crore loan scam case

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash 11 FIRs registered against a Mangaluru-based couple and their associate in connection with an alleged ₹40 crore cheating case involving false promises of arranging bank loans.

The accused Roshan Saldanha, his wife Daphne Neetu D’Souza, and N. Chandrashekar from Chitradurga had approached the High Court seeking cancellation of multiple FIRs filed against them. However, a single-judge bench led by Justice M. Nagaprasanna dismissed their petitions, stating that the allegations involve serious financial fraud and require thorough investigation.

The court observed that several complainants have accused the petitioners of collecting large sums of money as commission by promising to secure hefty bank loans, but later failing to deliver on those promises. At this stage, the court made it clear that it would not interfere in an ongoing investigation.

The bench further noted that an FIR is not proof of guilt but merely the beginning of a legal process. It emphasised that allegations must be examined through proper investigation, and any premature judicial intervention could hinder the course of justice. The court also highlighted that this is not an isolated मामला, as 11 separate complaints have been registered by different individuals across various states.

Counsel for the accused argued that the matter is civil in nature and involves financial transactions where complainants voluntarily transferred money to accounts not directly linked to the accused. They contended that there was no direct connection between the accused and the disputed accounts.

However, the court rejected this argument, stating that such claims can only be verified through a detailed probe. It pointed out that the आरोपियों allegedly followed a pattern—identifying individuals in need of funds, assuring them of loan arrangements, and collecting commission fees upfront before allegedly cheating them.

According to the case background, complaints were filed by individuals from multiple states including Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. The complainants include Siddharth Mohan, Jaikar Reddy Vedire, Ajay Naidu, Rajeev Sharma, Naveen Chandra Patel, Nandini, R. Manjunath, Tilak Dutta Choudhary, Y. N. Krishnamurthy, K. Ajaykumar, and Shiva Krishnamurthy Iyer.

Based on these complaints, cases were registered in crime police stations across cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and parts of Kerala. Challenging the legality of these FIRs, the accused had moved the High Court, which has now declined relief.

The ruling paves the way for continued investigation into the alleged large-scale financial fraud.