The Bombay Excessive Court docket Thursday confirmed and made absolute an interim safety from arrest for 4 weeks to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar in related with the alleged Covid physique bag rip-off.
Mumbai Police’s Financial Offences Wing (EOW) had registered a case in opposition to Pednekar over the alleged irregularities within the buy of physique luggage for Covid-19 sufferers.
The court docket had granted interim safety from arrest to Pednekar on September 6, 2023 for 4 weeks, which was continued every so often until date.
A single-judge bench of Justice N J Jamadar on Thursday confirmed the interim order and granted anticipatory bail noting that custodial interrogation of the applicant was not required in view of fabric produced by prosecution.
The court docket disposed of the plea and directed that within the occasion of arrest, the applicant be launched on furnishing private bond of Rs 30, 000 together with sureties of the identical quantity and shall cooperate with the probe.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a case in alleged Covid-19 luggage rip-off primarily based on the EOW case and Pednekar had appeared earlier than the central company.
Pednekar had moved the excessive court docket after a periods court docket had rejected her pre-arrest bail plea, observing that the allegations prima facie confirmed a conspiracy involving misuse of energy and public cash.
Advocate Sudeep Pasbola for Pednekar had claimed that the grievance in opposition to her was malafide, false, motivated and had political overtones because it was lodged solely after the break up within the Shiv Sena.
On August 4, 2023 primarily based on a grievance filed by BJP chief Kirit Somaiya, the EOW registered an FIR for dishonest, legal breach of belief in opposition to Pednekar, senior civic officers, non-public contractor Vedant Innotech and unidentified authorities servants for the alleged fraud of Rs 49.63 lakh.
As per grievance, Vedant Innotech allegedly equipped physique luggage to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) at Rs 6,719 per piece, which was over thrice greater than what it had charged different authorities authorities or non-public hospitals (Rs 1,500 a chunk), throughout the identical interval.