A special court dealing with organised crimes on Tuesday denied bail to 59-year-old Fazal-Ur-Rehman Siddiqui who was brought from a Gujarat jail last November in connection with a 2005 extortion case wherein his men had allegedly fired on a diamond merchant in a bid to extort him of Rs. 1 crore.
Three of his men had been convicted in 2012 for the offence and one was acquitted, while Siddiqui had been shown as absconding then.
Siddiqui had sought bail on the grounds of his age and co-morbidities and said that he was falsely arrested in the case and charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Special judge under the MCOCA RR Bhosale said in his order that by a June order the court had already rejected his plea on health grounds during the pandemic and specifically observed in the said order that as an undertrial under the MCOCA, even if he suffers from co-morbidities, he is not entitled to bail during the pandemic under the recommendations of the High Power Committee for decongest of prisons.
The court further said that under a provision of the MCOCA, an accused cannot be released on bail unless the court is satisfied that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. Scrutinized under this backdrop, it said that 27 serious crimes have been registered against him in different states of which he has been acquitted in 11, out on bail in nine others and undertrial in one. It also noted that he had made a confessional statement before a competent authority under the Act, wherein he has revealed about the continuing criminal activities of his gang as well as his role in them.
The court observed that his successive involvement in serious crimes reveals the probability about further such involvement while on bail.
There is also evidence pointed out by the prosecution, the court said, in the form of consistent telephonic communications with his men convicted in 2012 during the crime which shows his involvement in the organised crime for economic gain, while denying his bail plea.
