The Supreme Court has stayed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that barred Rohtak judges from hearing bail pleas in a real estate fraud case. The allegations are untested.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated September 30, 2026 that restrained judicial officers in the Rohtak Sessions Division from entertaining any bail application in a real estate fraud FIR linked to DHL Infratech Private Limited and Gupta Property Developers, and has issued notice returnable in four weeks.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran passed the order on October 27, 2026, permitting dasti service in addition. The stay operates in the meantime. The accused in the FIR are presumed innocent, the allegations are untested, and the Supreme Court has recorded no view on the merits.
How the case reached here
The FIR was registered on May 27, 2026 at the IMT police station in Rohtak under Sections 420, 120-B and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, which correspond to Sections 318(4), 61 and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It alleges that investors and homebuyers were cheated of crores of rupees by collecting money for real estate projects without delivering possession or returning the amounts. Those named include directors of DHL Infratech and partners and employees of Gupta Property Developers.
The High Court was hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Subhash Gupta, a partner of Gupta Property Developers, whose arrest had been stayed on his undertaking to return the amounts with 6 per cent interest. Noticing a disparity in the bail orders passed in the same FIR, a single judge directed the Haryana Government to appoint a senior IPS officer to investigate and file a status report, restrained the Rohtak judicial officers from hearing bail applications in the FIR, and asked the Registry to send the order to the District and Sessions Judge, Rohtak.
The High Court observed, in a report of its hearing, that every attempt had apparently been made by the police to shield the real culprits.
What the Supreme Court ordered
The Supreme Court’s order records:
“Issue notice, returnable in four weeks.”
The Court stayed the High Court’s order of September 30, 2026 in the meantime, which lets the Rohtak courts resume hearing bail applications in the FIR while the challenge is pending. The reasons for the stay were not recorded in the available report of the order. The High Court’s direction to the State to appoint a senior officer for the investigation is part of the same order that has been stayed. The matter returns in about four weeks, in the week of November 24.
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Case Title: Special leave petition against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order in Subhash Gupta v. State of Haryana [CRM-M No. 42815 of 2026]
Bench: Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran, Supreme Court of India
Date of Order: October 27, 2026
Appearances: Not reported