Nagpur: The District and Sessions Court on Friday granted bail to former Shiv Sena leader Mangesh Kadav arrested in extortion, cheating, trespass and criminal intimidation cases. Kadav was arrested on July 26 2020 and spent three months in jail. Additional Sessions Judge P F Sayyad granted the conditional bail to Kadav who was arrested by Bajaj Nagar police for offences punishable under Sections 385, 384, 420, 406, 448, 506, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 39 and 45 of the Maharashtra Money Lending (Regulation) Act, 2014.
Following his arrest, Kadav was expelled from Shiv Sena. The prosecution charged Kadav with extortion and house trespass while recovering a hand loan amount from one Devenand Shirke using high-handed tactics and charging five per cent interest per week. As against the loan amount of Rs 8 lakh, Kadav had demanded a sum of Rs 30 lakh from Shirke, the prosecution claimed. The applicant denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the transaction took place in 2015 while the complaint was lodged five years later. Prosecution vehemently opposed grant of bail to Kadav and submitted a crime chart to show similar types of cases registered against him in various police stations.
Additional Sessions Judge P F Sayyad, while allowing the application, noted that the incident took place between 2010 and 2015 and there was a delay of five years in filing FIR. Besides, the investigation is over, a chargesheet is filed and custodial interrogation is not required. Bail cannot be denied merely due to pendency of criminal offences, the court stated while granting conditional bail to Kadav with a warning not to intimidate any witness or tamper the evidence.
Adv Prakash Jaiswal appeared for the applicant. APP Mahurkar represented the prosecution.
