In a forgery case filed against him by AAP politician Dhananjay Shinde, a sessions court has denied Pravin Darekar, the head of the opposition in the state legislative council, anticipatory release. It has, however, prolonged his temporary protection from arrest until Tuesday, allowing him to file a petition with the High Court.
Darekar had pretended to be a 'worker' to join a labour cooperative society, according to the
AAP leader's allegation. He was voted to the Mumbai District Co-operative Bank and became its director as a result of this society. Shinde had also claimed that Darekar had disbursed several loans while working at the bank.
Darekar had applied for anticipatory bail, telling the court that he joined the labour cooperative in 1997 when he had no business and was a labourer living in a slum in Dahisar. He further said that it is not stated in the membership regulations of the cooperative society that if a member gets wealthy, their membership will be revoked. He further alleged that the state government was behind the FIR and that he was being singled out because he raised issues in the house about NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh, which led to their detention.
Darekar pretended to be a labour supervisor and received pay of Rs. 25,700 from the Cooperative organization, according to Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, who had challenged his relief. The prosecution further informed the court that when Darekar ran for Vidhan Parishad, he declared his assets to be worth Rs 2.13 crore, cash worth Rs 91 lakhs, and a monthly income of Rs 2.5 lakhs, which could not be from labour. It also stated that he served as the bank's director and chairperson from 2017 to 2021 and that he was paid by the bank, incurring losses to the bank and the state.
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