TMC corporators’ bail extended

The Bombay high court extended the interim bail granted to four corporators of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) after they sought anticipatory bail in connection with the suicide case of builder Suraj Parmar till November 26.

Following a government affidavit opposing the bail of the four corporators on the grounds that they were not cooperating with the investigation and custodial interrogation was required, Justice A.S. Gadkari asked the corporators namely — Vikrant Chavan (Congress), Najib Mulla, Hanumant Jagdale (both NCP) and Sudhakar Chavan (independent) — to file a rejoinder to their bail plea on November 26. Parmar, a leading Thane-based builder, had shot himself on October 7. His suicide note alleged that a nexus of corporators and officials was harassing him for bribes.

The Thane police had registered a case of ‘abetment to suicide’ and for offences of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a notebook left by Parmar in his car revealed their names as the ones who had allegedly harassed him. However, the defence lawyer pleaded that the names of the corporators were erased (by the builder) and denied their involvement in the suicide.

He also said that, as the quartet was willing to cooperate with police in the probe, custodial interrogation was not necessary.

A vacation bench of the high court had earlier granted the corporators interim bail on November 3 on a surety of Rs 1 lakh each and asked them to deposit their mobile phones and passports with the Thane police. They were also directed not to enter the Thane civic body premises until further court orders.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased builder intervened to describe as baseless the allegations of Parmar committing suicide because of Rs 150 crore income tax liability.

Earlier, a Thane sessions court had refused to grant anticipatory bail to the corporators. Being aggrieved, they moved the high court.