High court cancels bail to NCP minister

In a setback for minister of state for transport and agriculture Gulabrao Deokar, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court on Monday set aside his bail in connection with the 1997 multi-crore housing scam in Jalgaon.

In a setback for minister of state for transport and agriculture Gulabrao Deokar, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court on Monday set aside his bail in connection with the 1997 multi-crore housing scam in Jalgaon.

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Justice TV Nalawade cancelled the bail on a plea filed by Jalgaon resident Premanand Jadhav and two other locals who had challenged the validity of the May 21, 2012, order of the local court.

Assistant public prosecutor Pravin Chavan said the factors that weighed before the high court were lack of reasons for granting bail to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister. The local court, Chavan said, had not even taken into consideration the gravity of the offence and the prosecution evidence against the accused.

Advocate Aniket Nikam, who represented Deokar, argued that the plea seeking cancellation of bail was politically motivated, as it singled out the NCP minister. He said the local court has granted bail to 41 others, many of whom are signatories to tainted resolutions passed by the erstwhile Jalgaon Municipal Council, yet only Deokar was being targeted through the plea.

The contentions, however, failed to impress justice Nalawade, who cancelled the bail. The NCP minister is in the dock for allegedly siphoning off civic funds through a mass housing project taken up purportedly without any formal resolution of the municipal council.