The High Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Hilal Rather, son of ex-finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather, accused of his involvement in a multi-crore J&K Bank loan scam.
Rather had approached the court seeking bail on healthgrounds and in keeping with the directions of the Supreme to release prisonersto decongest jails in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
A bench of Justice Puneet Gupta at Jammu wing of the Courtdismissed the bail application after hearing senior advocate Sunil Sethi andadvocate Pranav Kohli on behalf of Rather and advocate Monika Kohli on behalfof Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Court observed that the accused faces charges which wereof serious nature, saying the bail cannot be granted on mere asking of theaccused nor can the accused claim bail as a matter of right.
Dismissing the plea, the Court held that the accused was notcovered by the apex court directions since he faces charges of serious nature.
“Each case has to be decided on its own merits,” the Courtsaid.
The CBI opposed the bail on the ground that the accused hasallegedly misappropriated the loan amount and investigation in the case wasstill going on to unearth the larger conspiracy involved in the matter.
The accused, the agency said, has been provided adequatetreatment at Government Medical College, Jammu and PGI Chandigarh while injudicial custody, jail authorities.
“There is nothing on record to suggest that the condition ofjail is not clean and hygienic or that adequate measures are not taken by thejail authorities to prevent the spread of COVID19,” said the Court.
The case related to the alleged misappropriation of croresof rupees from the term loans running into crores sanctioned by J&K Bankfor ambitious township project known as Paradise Avenue at Narwal Bala Jammu in2012. On March 31, Special Judge CBI Jammu rejected the interim bailapplication of the accused after the CBI filed chargesheet against him in theRs 177 crore loan fraud case.