Bail denied in Mithi river desilting scam | Rs 65 crore involved, wrongful loss caused to public and govt: Court
A Special Investigation Team of the EOW had earlier this month filed an FIR against five contractors, three BMC officials, three middlemen and two private company officials, on allegations of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
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According to the EOW, the SIT came across glaring financial irregularities pertaining to contracts of Mithi river desilting works between 2021-22 and 2022-23.In its detailed order rejecting bail to two arrested in the Mithi river desilting scam, a metropolitan court has said wrongful loss was caused to the public with more than Rs 65 crore involved in the case. On May 22, the magistrate had denied bail to Ketan Kadam and Jay Joshi, alleging that they were middlemen and had used their influence to interfere with the tender process.
“In this case…investigation is not completed. Many accused are yet not arrested. The offence is relating to public money. Due to the act of the accused, wrongful loss is caused to the government and public at large. It is the case of the prosecution that the accused, by using his influence and maintaining good terms with the officers of the municipal corporation, caused loss to it, and grabbed some amount. The amount more (than) Rs 65 crore is involved in this crime and therefore, wrongful loss was caused to the public,” additional judicial magistrate Vinod Patil, said in his order, made available on Monday.
A Special Investigation Team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had earlier this month filed an FIR against five contractors, three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, three middlemen and two private company officials, on allegations of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The FIR claims that the accused conspired to defraud the BMC financially, by irregularities in tendering for desilting of the Mithi river, between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The EOW claimed that bogus documents were submitted and work was carried out without due verification.
In his bail application, Joshi, the owner of Virgo Specialities, said that he had no connection with the tender process. He submitted that he is primarily an investor involved in multiple business ventures and had only delivered machines to the contractors. Kadam, too, claimed that he was neither a director or partner of Virgo or Volder, firms named in connection with the probe and that the firms were nowhere concerned with the tenders floated.
The prosecution claimed that in order to provide machines on rent to the contractors, Joshi had influenced the officers of the BMC, including bearing expenses of a trip of some of the officers to Delhi. The police also claimed that the requirement of machine supply was mandatory for contractors through forgery in an agreement clause.
“Therefore, I do not find any substance that the accused does not have any concern with the contract of municipal corporation,” the court said while rejecting Kadam’s order. The court further said that the investigation in the case is still in progress and granting bail could cause hurdles in the probe.
Joshi has now moved sessions court for bail. Two BMC officials named in the FIR, Prashant Tayshete and Prashant Ramugade have filed for anticipatory bail. The pleas will be heard later this week.
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