This story is from January 9, 2020

In a first, HC grants bail to approver in MCOCA case

In a first, HC grants bail to approver in MCOCA case
Mumbai: In a significant order, the Bombay high court on Wednesday granted bail to an approver in an organised crime case over an alleged Rs 10 crore extortion demand made by gangster Suresh Pujari from Malaysia. This is the first such order by Bombay HC of bail granted to an approver in a MCOCA case.
Sharad Agarwal (36) had approached HC after a special court designated under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had rejected his bail in October 2019.
His counsel Raja Thakare with advocates Pratap Nimbalkar and Siddharth Jagushte contended before Justice S K Shinde that though he was arraigned as an accused in the case, he was since granted pardon as an approver in September 2019 and thus entitled to bail.
Agarwal said he was falsely accused in the case and that he is a businessman with a travel firm, languishing in Thane central jail since 2015 after his arrest by Mumbai police as part of its investigation into the Pujari syndicate.
There is a statutory bar under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on the release of an approver till completion of the trial, argued prosecutor Sharmistha Kaushik.
But Thakare argued since Agarwal was granted a pardon and since he now has “a status of a witness” and “has not breached any condition (if any) imposed on him while granting pardon”, the trial court erred in not applying its mind judiciously to his case.
Police received the sanction to prosecute under MCOCA in January 2016. A chargesheet was filed before the special MCOCA court in Mumbai against Agarwal and others.
The prosecution’s case is the complainant claimed to have received a call in September 2015 from an international number and the caller said he was Suresh Pujari from Malaysia and demanded Rs 10 crore.
The prosecution had before the special trial court recorded its “no objection” to release the applicant on bail, subject to the condition that he remain present before it on every hearing and not tamper with evidence.
Till date, only eight witnesses have been examined out of 41 and the approver has been in jail for over a year after being granted pardon under Section 307 of the CrPC, noted HC.
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