Jignesh Shah, > prime accused in the Rs 5600-crore NSEL (National Spot Exchange Limited) scam, was granted bail on the surety of Rs Five lakh by the Bombay High Court on Friday. The court allowed immediate release of Mr. Shah on health grounds, after his lawyer submitted he was willing to furnish cash equivalent to the bail amount to secure the release.
"We are on the 107th day (of imprisonment). The weekend follows and the Ganpatis are to come next. These circumstances may delay furnishing the bail-bond. His health is already deteriorating, so he be released immediately on humanitarian grounds," advocate Ameet Naik said.
The court thereafter observed that it does not think Mr Shah will go absconding. "I am inclined to release him temporarily on the deposit of Rs Five lakh cash for a period of two weeks, within which the applicant is expected to provide solvent surety," Justice A M Thipsay said.
Mr Shah has been directed to present himself before the office of the Investigating Officer twice a week -- on Monday and Thursday -- between 11 am and 1 pm, for two months. Thereafter, he will have to continue remaining present before the Investigating Officer till the court passes further orders in the matter.
The single judge bench of the court refused the Mumbai Police's plea to stay the bail order. The prosecution said it wanted to appeal against the order before the apex court.
Mr. Shah, represented by senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, had argued that he had no role to play in the scam as he was the non-executive director. He had pleaded that while the other accused who had large role in the conspiracy, had already secured bail, he had still been kept behind the bars.
The court had thereafter asked the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police to produce evidence of pecuniary gains to the accused. “What gain has Shah made? I fail to understand how is his case any worse than that of Anjani Sinha,” Justice Thipsay had asked during the previous hearing. Ms Sinha is the former chief executive of NSEL. She had been granted bail in May this year.
The police had maintained that Mr. Shah had played a pivotal role, but had sought time to produce evidence on the grounds that the investigation was still in progress. The court had thereafter reserved its order till the time EOW filed a charge sheet in the matter.
The EOW was directed to submit a copy of the 9000-page charge sheet to the court during the second week of August, which it did on August 5.
