Rohit Kochhar, Ld. Counsel appeared for David Allan Schock whereas, Vijay Aggarwal, Ld. Counsel appeared for Anurag Mehrotra. Rohit Kochhar argued that the FIR was a litany of lies, fabrication and deceit, and had been orchestrated by the complainant with the mischievous and unlawful objective of evading his own legal financial obligations towards Ford India. Mr. Kochhar submitted that the dispute between the parties was purely civil in nature, and that the entire FIR, even if read as a whole, did not disclose any criminality on the part of his client.

While relying upon various documents on record including the dealership agreement, he argued that the allegations in the FIR were completely baseless and unfounded, and that Ford India had never promised the complainant to make him an exclusive dealer, and that to the contrary, the agreement clearly stipulated that the complainant would be a non-exclusive dealer, and Ford India had the right to appoint other dealers within the primary market area of the complainant. Mr. Kochhar further argued that in fact, it was the complainant who had cheated not only Ford India but also various customers and the public at large by misappropriating their insurance premiums and registration tax payments.

Mr. Kochhar submitted that his client, who is a US resident, was mischievously made an accused by the complainant to exert undue pressure on Ford India to make it succumb to the extortionist demands of the complainant to the tune of Rs 35 crores. Mr. Kochhar also prayed that given the unabated COVID-19 situation in the US coupled with restrictions on international travel, his client should be allowed to join the investigations through video conference. In this regard, he relied upon an order passed by the Delhi High Court in the CBI case relating to GVK Airport Holdings Ltd.

Vijay Aggarwal argued before the Court that there was a huge delay of more than 18 months on part of the complainant in the registration of the FIR. He submitted that the offences alleged in the FIR were punishable with less than 7 years imprisonment, and therefore, the police were mandatorily required to follow the principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Arnesh Kumar.

It was further pointed out by Mr. Aggarwal that the allegations levelled in the FIR were purely civil in nature, which had been mischievously given the colour of a criminal offence. It was argued that the complainant was in fact himself in breach and that he had blatantly violated the terms and conditions of the dealership agreement and had failed to clear the outstanding credit of more than 1 Crore owed to Ford India.

It was argued by Mr. Aggarwal that the Managing Director of Ford India has deep roots in society and that Ford is a highly reputed company with a large business in India, as such, there is no chance of the accused absconding from the jurisdiction of the Court.

Ford Motor Co. is a Fortune Global 500 Corporation, and one of the largest automobile manufacturing companies in the world with annual revenues of approximately Rs. 12 lakh crores, and almost 200,000 employees spread across 200 countries.