SC judge ‘approached’, pulls out of Ketan case

The Ketan Parekh bail application case took a curious turn last week when the main accused in the stock scam of 2000 moved the Supreme Court...

The Ketan Parekh bail application case took a curious turn last week when the main accused in the stock scam of 2000 moved the Supreme Court last Friday to have a non-bailable warrant issued against him in the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB) case quashed.

The application came up in the apex court on Friday, January 28, before a bench that included Justice S.N. Variava. Sources say that the judge stunned the courtroom by saying that he would not hear the case because somebody had approached him on behalf of the scam-accused Ketan Parekh.

It was Justice Variava who had headed the Special Court set up under an Act of Parliament to try litigation related to the securities scam of 1992 also.

Story continues below this ad

Ram Jethmalani and Mahesh Jethmalani, who were appearing for Parekh, are understood to have apologised profusely to the court and the judge. The application has now been referred to the Chief Justice for assigning a new bench to hear the application.

When contacted, Mahesh Jethmalani told this newspaper that there are always two sides to an issue. Somebody who was trying to ‘‘do good’’ appeared to have tried to help the broker. When asked if it was true that he did not plan to appear for Ketan Parekh in the case any more, Mahesh Jethmalani said, ‘‘I don’t know. I may not appear (for him), but I haven’t made up my mind as yet.’’

The saga of the bail plea is itself interesting with the CBI not yet arresting the broker despite repeated non-bailable warrants issued against him.

‘Double bonanza for poor, middle class’: PM’s swadeshi pitch ahead of new GST roll out

India5 hr ago

PM Modi announced the rollout of new GST rates, calling it a "GST bachat utsav" and promising cheaper prices for medicines, insurance, and daily essentials. He emphasized that these reforms would ease doing business, attract investment, and benefit the poor, middle class, MSMEs, farmers, women, traders, and youth. He urged citizens to promote swadeshi goods.

View all shorts

Live Blog