Mumbai: Police not to arrest former BJP MLA Narendra Mehta till June 15

The police have made a statement before the Bombay High Court on Friday that it will not arrest BJP leader Narendra Mehta till June 15 in an alleged disproportionate assets case registered by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat made a statement before the vacation bench of justice Milind Jadhav.

The HC was hearing an application filed by former BJP MLA from Mira-Bhayander and his wife Suman seeking relief after the Thane sessions court rejected their plea on Thursday. Last week, the HC had asked him to first pursue his plea before the Thane sessions court.

Mehta's plea claims that the entire case against him is politically motivated. It said the political parties along with the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi panicked after Mehta got close to former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and registered a case against the former BJP MLA.

On May 19, the Thane anti-corruption bureau filed a case of disproportionate assets of over Rs 8 crore against Mehta and his wife Suman.

The complaint filed with the Navghar police station alleges that Mehta has been accused of using his position and power to amass disproportionate assets between January 2006 and August 31, 2015. The case has been filed under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

On Thursday, additional sessions judge RR Kakani rejected their pleas observing that the allegations of Mehtas appear to be serious in nature. The judge said, “In a case like this, effective interrogation of a suspected person is of tremendous advantage in discovering useful information and materials which would have been concealed.”

In 2016, Mehta was acquitted by the Thane court of a 2002, Rs 20,000 bribery charge as a corporator. The Thane ACB has challenged the order in the Bombay high court.