The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declined DLF Limited’s attempt to get the bail of its former Group Chief Financial Officer, Ramesh Sanka, cancelled in an alleged ₹311 crore extortion case, holding that approaching different courts through legal proceedings cannot, by itself, be treated as a breach of bail conditions.
Justice Vikram Aggarwal dismissed the company’s plea, which accused Sanka of disclosing confidential corporate information through petitions filed before the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, Telangana High Court and Madras High Court.
DLF had argued that Sanka was using these proceedings to reveal sensitive company information and put pressure on the company as well as prosecution witnesses.
The Court, however, found no merit in treating the filing of such petitions as an attempt to intimidate or influence anyone. It observed that Sanka had approached various courts with allegations concerning tax evasion and other alleged irregularities by DLF.
The Bench made it clear that pursuing available legal remedies cannot automatically amount to a violation of bail conditions.
While making observations about Sanka’s conduct, the Court was far from complimentary. It remarked that he did not appear to be a saint and seemed to have tendencies associated with blackmailing. The Court also pointed out that he had spent 11 months in custody before securing bail.
Nevertheless, it stressed that the allegations against him were yet to be tested at trial. Similarly, the allegations raised by Sanka against DLF would have to be examined by the respective courts dealing with those matters.
The Bench refrained from expressing any conclusion on the truthfulness of either side’s accusations.
Sanka joined DLF as Chief Financial Officer in 2004 and later became the company’s Group CFO. He subsequently took over as Managing Director of DLF Cyber City Developers Limited, a position he held until 2014.
The dispute escalated in 2024 when DLF lodged a criminal complaint against him. The company alleged that Sanka had threatened to misuse or disclose confidential corporate information unless it paid him ₹311 crore.
He was arrested in January 2025 and remained in custody until December 2025, when he was granted bail.
DLF approached the High Court approximately a month later, seeking to have that relief withdrawn. The company maintained that Sanka’s subsequent court proceedings involved the disclosure of confidential material and were intended to threaten and influence the company and witnesses.
Rejecting the request, the High Court underlined that cancellation of bail is an extraordinary step and cannot be ordered mechanically. The Court found no sufficient grounds to interfere with the bail order at this stage.
Accordingly, DLF’s plea for cancellation of Sanka’s bail was dismissed.
Senior Advocates RS Cheema, RS Rai and Rajeev Anand, along with advocates Kartikeya, Radhika Mehta, Satish Sharma, Farhad Kohli and Prince Bharol, appeared for DLF.
Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabharwal represented the Haryana government.
Senior Advocate Ashok Aggarwal, assisted by advocates Nilesh Bhardwaj, Shrenik Jain, Vineet Sehgal and Haripal, appeared for Ramesh Sanka.