Imprisoned NCP leader refused bail to cast vote

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) has refused interim bail to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ramesh Kadam, who is in jail for the misappropriation of crores of rupees of the Anna Bhau Sathe Pratishthan Pune. Mr Kadam sought bail to cast his vote in the upcoming Assembly election. He has also filed his nomination from the Mohol constituency of Solapur as an independent candidate.

On Friday, Justice Ranjit More and Justice N.J. Jamadar told Mr Kadam to approach the sessions court, and refused to grant him relief. Earlier, he was granted interim bail to file his nomination from the Mohol seat. His application stated that he wanted to contest the election as an independent candidate and contesting polls was his constitutional right and that he had not been convicted in the case so far. This was a big relief for Mr Kadam, who is lodged in Byculla jail since 2015.

Mr Kadam is the main accused in the Lokshahir Anna Bhau Sathe Pratishthan case. He had shown bogus beneficiaries and usurped hundreds of crores of rupees of the corporation. The state CID arrested 12 accused in the scam. Mr Kadam was granted bail by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year but continued to be in jail because the case registered with the CID was still
pending.

His bail application was rejected by the Pune court which is why he approached the high court but the court, too, rejected his bail considering his bad behaviour in jail, and the fear that he would threaten witnesses.

Mr Kadam verbally abused a Byculla jail officer, following which he was booked under various sections. Later, he alleged that the police had abused him verbally and sought action against the concerned police officer under the Prevention of Atrocities Act.