Bank fraud case: No pre-arrest bail for BJP MLC Pravin Darekar

After Darekar's lawyer sought protection to seek relief against the order in the high court, the judge granted protection from arrest to Darekar till Tuesday, March 29.

Booked for posing as labourer: HC refuses to give interim protection from arrest to Darekar

The government clarified that the matter was not related to the Economic Offences Wing case, in which Darekar has been booked for causing a loss of over Rs 100 crore to the bank by fraud and embezzlement of funds.

A COURT in Mumbai on Friday rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Pravin Darekar, in connection with an FIR registered against himfor cheating, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in a bank fraud case.

Rejecting Darekar’s plea, sessions judge R N Rokade said there is “prima facie evidence” against him. However, after Darekar’s lawyer sought protection to seek relief against the order in the high court, the judge granted protection from arrest to Darekar till Tuesday, March 29.

The FIR was registered at MRA Marg police station on a complaint filed by AAP leader Dhananjay Shinde who has accused Darekar of defrauding the government and the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank (known as Mumbai Bank) by posing as a labourer and contesting the bank’s election for the post of director under the labour category. Police claimed that losses were incurred by the bank.

Story continues below this ad

Read | This is the 18th of 100 free articles. For unlimited access to our free content, please login to the site.

Darekar stated that he had not committed any offence and submitted that the Enforcement Directorate registered a complaint in 2015 based on the same offence but filed a closure report after investigation. He said he is willing to cooperate with the probe and the protection from arrest be granted to him.

Police said in their reply that Darekar had wrongly claimed to be a labourer even though he had other means of livelihood. On this basis, he entered the fray to become the director of the Mumbai Bank and received a remuneration of over Rs 4 lakh.

Also Read | Legislative council: BMC targets Narayan Rane & Kamboj, not illegal construction in Mumbai, says Pravin Darekar

The reply filed by police through special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat said Darekar became a member of a labour cooperative society in 1999 by claiming he was a labourer. It added that his affidavit before the legislative council elections in 2016 showed he had property worth Rs 2.3 crore and Rs 91 lakh cash, and this showed he is not a labourer.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram