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Ex-PMC Bank director granted bail by Bombay HC to undergo surgery
Mumbai: In a relief to Jagdish Mookhey, an accused in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case, the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday granted
Mumbai: In a relief to Jagdish Mookhey, an accused in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case, the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday granted him a temporary bail for three months to undergo an epigastric hernia surgery.
The bail was granted after a private clinic in Mulund, where he is likely to undergo the surgery, submitted a Pre-Surgery Fitness Assessment Test and Parameter Monitoring Report, which stated that Mookhey suffers from many medical complications which need to be addressed before the operation and hence he was required to be treated for a few weeks. Mookhey approached HC after his bail was rejected by the sessions court on May 2.
A single bench of justice Bharati Dangre, while hearing Mookhey’s bail application was informed by his advocates Yusuf Iqbal Yusuf and Zain Shroff that the 75-year-old accused, who was in the PMC Bank’s audit committee, had been in and out of the hospital during his judicial custody since December last year due to his medical condition. The advocates had sought bail on the grounds that Mookhey needed the surgery, which owing to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, he prefers to undergo at a private clinic at Mulund. The advocates also submitted that Mookhey was willing to bear all costs, which included police escort fees and treatment cost, if he was permitted to undergo the operation.
On May 29, the bench of justice Anuja Prabhudessai directed the private clinic to submit a fitness report after monitoring Mookhey for three days. The application came up for hearing before the bench of justice Dangre after the clinic submitted the report. After perusing the report, the bench granted Mookhey temporary bail on the condition that he deposits the police escort fees.
Through his bail application after his arrest on December 3, Mookhey pleaded that he did not have any role in the fraud. The plea was opposed by the state on the grounds that his role was yet to be ascertained. Mookhey then filed for a bail on medical grounds.
Who is Jagdish Mookhey?
Jagdish Mookhey was on the audit committee of the bank from 2005 to 2019.
On December 3, Mookhey, along with two other directors – Dr Trupti Bane and Mukti Bavisi – were arrested for their alleged involvement in the ₹6,670 crore.
Bane was in the recovery committee from 2010 to 2015, and the loans and advances committee from 2015 to 2019, while Bavisi was a part of the loans and advances committee from 2011 to September 2019.
