Bank case: HC grants pre-arrest bail to BJP leader Pravin Darekar

The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Pravin Darekar, leader of the opposition in the council, in connection with an FIR registered against him on charges of cheating, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust with regard to the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank

The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Pravin Darekar, leader of the opposition in the council, in connection with an FIR registered against him on charges of cheating, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust with regard to the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank.

BJP leader Pravin Darekar HT File Photo

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader has been directed to cooperate with the investigators and in the event of arrest he would be released on a personal bond of ₹50,000.

A single-judge bench of justice Anuja Prabhudesai, while hearing the anticipatory bail application of Darekar, was informed that he had approached the HC after the sessions court had rejected his plea last month.

Darekar was booked based on a complaint by Aam Aadmi Party leader Dhananjay Shinde who accused him of defrauding the government and the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank.

In the complaint, Shinde alleged that in 1997, Darekar had registered himself as a labourer with a labour union and since then, he had been contesting elections for the post of bank’s director under the labour category, thus defrauding the state and the bank.

Darekar approached the sessions court seeking pre-arrest bail. However, the court said there was prima facie evidence against him and rejected the application. Thereafter, Darekar sought a stay on implementation of the order for two weeks and protection from arrest so that he could approach the HC, which was allowed.

During the hearing before the HC bench, senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, appearing for Darekar, assured the court that he would cooperate with the probe officers and hence, should be granted protection from arrest. Special counsel for the state, advocate Sudeep Pasbola, informed the bench that it was difficult to retrieve documents pertaining to 1997 and time would be required to complete the investigation.