PMC Bank case: HC seeks info on health condition of Wadhawans

A single-judge HC bench of Justice Bharati Dangre directed the jail authorities to submit details of the precautionary measures that have been taken to prevent the inmates from contracting the pathogen.

The Bombay high court (HC) has rejected the bail plea of HDIL promoters, the father and son duo of Rakesh Wadhawan, and Sarang Wadhawan, who have been arrested on charges of money laundering in the ₹6,500-crore Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case, but directed the Maharashtra government to give details of their health status amid the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Mumbai.

A file photo of Bombay high court. (HT photo)

The Wadhawans had moved their bail plea on the grounds that Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail houses several Covid-19 inmates and they are afraid of contracting SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, while citing their medical condition and also the Supreme Court’s recent order of decongesting prisons because of the viral outbreak.

A single-judge HC bench of Justice Bharati Dangre directed the jail authorities to submit details of the precautionary measures that have been taken to prevent the inmates from contracting the pathogen.

Advocate Amit Desai, who appeared on behalf of the Wadhawans, informed the court that if his clients were granted bail, then they would observe self-quarantine and also be available for further probe at a said address.

However, public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde opposed the plea and cited that adequate precautionary measures were put in place by the prison authorities for the inmates’ safety and the applicants’ apprehensions were unfounded.

Justice Dangre heard the state government’s submissions and observed that the Wadhawans were safer in the jail rather than being granted bail amid the pandemic.

She sought a status report of the jail barracks in which the Wadhawans are lodged and posted the next date of hearing of the case on Friday.