Tamil Nadu State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan on Friday appeared in Madras High Court on behalf of Kerala to get an anticipatory bail granted by the court to one of the builders accused of constructing illegal apartments in Maradu overturned.
Sandeep Mehta M., managing director, Jain Housing and Constructions Limited, and the first accused in a case registered by the Panangad police on a petition filed by a resident of Jain Coral Cove, had secured anticipatory bail for four weeks from the Madras High Court earlier this week.
Following this, Tomin J. Thachankary, ADGP, Crime Branch (CB), had written to the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu seeking the service of a Government Pleader to file an appeal against it.
“We strongly contested the anticipatory bail during the hearing on Friday. The case is posted for order on November 4 as it is the start of Diwali holidays there,” Mr. Thachankary said. He said the accused had secured the anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court concealing the fact that his company had an office in Kerala as well.
Mr. Natarajan will have to be paid a fee of ₹25,000 a day for appearing for the State.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch probing the Maradu case continued to collect the statements of people's representatives during the period between 2006 and 2013. Mr. Thachankary said that statements of two people's representatives were being recorded in a day.
The team had sent notices summoning 21 members of the Maradu panchayat between 2006 and 2010 pertaining to the period when the building permits for the illegal apartments were issued. Besides, 33 municipal councillors of the Maradu municipality between 2011 and 2013 have also been asked to appear in the coming days. All four apartment complexes concerned were constructed between 2006 and 2013.
