Supreme Court Grants Bail to Industrialist Sudhir Kumar Windlass; Dismisses SLP by Co-Accused Heena Thapa
The Supreme Court, on October 28, 2025, granted bail to industrialist Sudhir Kumar Windlass while dismissing the plea filed by Heena Thapa, observing that she was charge-sheeted only in one of the two FIRs related to alleged illegal land transactions.
A Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale was hearing two connected special leave petitions — Heena Thapa v. CBI; SLP (Crl.) No. 4928/2024 and Sudhir Kumar Windlass v. CBI; SLP (Crl.) No. 12231/2025.
The Court noted that two FIRs — FIR No. 13 of 2022 and FIR No. 31 of 2022 — had been registered in connection with allegations of executing fake sale deeds. Following investigation, the CBI filed a common chargesheet dated December 28, 2024. On perusal of the record, the Bench found that the petitioner, Heena Thapa, had been arrayed as an accused only in the second FIR. Accordingly, the Court declined to interfere and dismissed her petition.
In the connected matter, the Court granted bail to Sudhir Kumar Windlass, a 72-year-old accused, noting that he was arrested on December 21, 2023, and has remained in custody since then. While the chargesheet was filed on December 28, 2023, charges have not yet been framed. Observing that 95 witnesses have been cited and the trial is likely to take considerable time, and that all co-accused have already been released on bail, the Court directed his enlargement on bail subject to conditions imposed by the Trial Court, including surrendering his passport within a week of release.
Counsels for the Petitioner : Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Adv,, Mr. Siddharth Luthra, Sr Adv ,Mr. Sidharth, Sr.Adv, briefed by a team from Veritas Aequitas – lead by Mr. Abhimanshu Dhyani, Adv. and assisted by Advocates - Mr. Sahil Modi and Ms. Harshita Gupta, Mr. Subhash Chandra, with Ms. Jasmine Damkewala, AOR.
CBI was represented by Mr. Suryaprakash V Raju, A.S.G., Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Adv and their team of Advocates.
Case Name: Heena Thapa v. CBI; SLP(Crl.) No. 4928/2024
Sudhir Kumar Windlass v. CBI; SLP(Crl) No. 12231/2025