Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Shiv Sena leader and former housing minister Suresh Jain, who was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by the Jalgaon sessions court in the multi-crore ‘Gharkul’ housing project scam in August.
The sessions court had also imposed a fine of '100 crore on the 76-year-old ex-legislator.
Jain on Wednesday informed the high court that he was unwell and had been admitted to JJ Hospital. The court, while granting him three months bail, also directed him to pay '5 lakh as a surety amount.
His lawyer, Aabad Ponda, informed the division bench of Justices R.V. More and M.S. Karnik that the former minister had already spent over four years in jail as an undertrial and he was suffering from a serious illness and undergoing treatment at a “well-known hospital in Mumbai”.
After hearing Mr Ponda’s arguments, the bench posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.
Along with Jain, the sessions court had convicted 47 others, including another former state minister Gulabrao Deokar, an NCP leader; ex-municipal councillors and officials for irregularities. Jain had allegedly favoured Khandesh Builders, the firm which got the contract to build houses under the Gharkul scheme, and indulged in irregularities to the tune of '29 crore.
On September 8, Jain challenged his conviction in the high court.
The former minister had requested that his sentence be suspended and he be released from jail pending the hearing of his appeal. He had then approached the high court earlier this month seeking bail on medical grounds.
