Rajkot court grants bail to Delhi lawyer in kidnapping case

Jeweller Bhaskar Parekh and his friend Paresh Shah were allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint near Trikon Baug on November 11, 2000 by a gang, on the orders of a mafia group based in Dubai. The group is supported by Asif Reza Khan and Aftab Ahmed Ansari, the alleged founding member of terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen. Shah was rescued from Bharuch on November 26 by police after an operation. But Parekh was taken to Delhi. He was released by kidnappers on December 1, 2000 only after they were paid Rs 1.5 crore ransom, say DCB. The money was to be used for funding terror activities in India and carry out attacks on politicians, said police.

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The investigators said that the car which was used to release Parekh in Delhi belonged to Jat. A Rajkot court had declared Jat an absconder after he remained out of the police net till ATS finally nabbed him in May.

After he was sent to judicial custody, Jat, who practices law at Rohini court, moved Rajkot District and Sessions Court on May 23 for bail. Exercising its discretionary power, the court of additional sessions judge Harsh Trivedi granted him bail on June 8.

Opposing the bail plea, the public prosecutor, in a submission before the court, claimed that Jat was involved in a conspiracy hatched by an international gang, and that he had remained on the run for almost 16 years.

Jat’s lawyer Piyush Shah told The Indian Express that his client was a law-abiding citizen and the court granted him bail exercising its discretionary power.

“But our defence was that police never made serious efforts to reach to Jat. Police went to Delhi only once to look for my client in all these years. Nor did he know that he was wanted in the case until ATS picked him up.

“Therefore, he was not an absconder. He is a law-abiding citizen and an advocate and the court granted him bail exercising its discretionary power,” he said.

The court granted bail to Jat appreciating that he is unlikely to flee from justice.

“In view of the matter, considering the role attributed to the present applicant and without touching to the merits and demerits of the allegations, I am inclined to release the applicant—accused on bail by exercising discretionary power. As the applicant is active legal practitioner in Delhi, having his family there, he is not likely to flee away from justice,” the judge stated in his order.

After the court granted him bail on a bail bond of Rs 2,5000 and orders to surrender his passport within a week, Jat was released from Rajkot Central Jail on Thursday evening.

His advocate Shah said that Jat surrendered his passport to the trial court on Friday and had left for Delhi.

Jat was the 51st accused to be arrested in the case. Two others accused in the case, Asif Reza Khan and Rajsi Hathiya Mer, were killed in police encounter. The remaining all are out on bail. Ansari was later convicted in the alleged terrorist attack on American Centre in Kolkata.