Mumbai: In a relief for the former housing minister, Suresh Jain, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted him interim bail on medical grounds.
The former Shiv Sena leader Jain (76), was convicted as a prime accused for committing irregularities of over Rs 29 crore in the popular “Gharkul” scheme.
A bench of Justices Ranjit More and Makarand Karnik granted bail to Jain, while considering the fact that he is suffering from some major ailments and had recently got treated at a city-based hospital. The bench has ordered Jain, who was in jail for over four years, to furnish a bail surety of Rs five lakh.
A sessions court at Jalgaon had convicted Jain and other accused, including another former minister and few municipal councillors, under the charges of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, in August this year. The court ordered him to remain imprisoned for seven years and also imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore.
Subsequently, Jain applied for a furlough and was brought to city’s JJ hospital from Jalgaon and later on shifted to a private hospital. He later challenged his conviction and sought suspension of his sentence for the time being. He also highlighted his ailments to make out a case on medical grounds, through his counsel Abad Ponda.
The bench of Justice More while granting him bail, has adjourned the matter for further hearing in February.
The scam pertains to the popular Gharkul scheme, introduced by the then Maharashtra government. As per the policy, over 5000 affordable homes were to be constructed on the outskirts of Jalgaon,
however, during an inspection, it was learnt that only 1500 homes were constructed. The matter was reported to the police by Pravin Gedam the then civic chief of Jalgaon corporation.
In the complaint, Jain along with others was accused of favouring a developer, with whom he committed the alleged irregularities in the scheme and caused a loss of Rs 29 crore to the public exchequer.
