Mumbai: The sessions court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Kishor Bhalerao, joint secretary working in Law and Judiciary Department, advocate Shekhar Jagtap and builder Shamsunder Agarwal in connection with the case registered with Colaba police for allegedly forging letters appointing Jagtap as special public prosecutor (SPP) in cases against builder Sanjay Punamiya.
The court has asked the three to visit the police station at least for three months till the investigation is over and the police submits its chargesheet. Though the detailed order will take some time, the court has imposed the condition against the three to not hamper the probe and influence the witnesses.
In his complaint, Punamiya claimed that Jagtap, despite representing the state, assisted Agarwal in the Rs15 crore extortion case in which former commissioner of police Param Bir Singh was also named. Jagtap is also accused of fabricating documents with the help of Bhalerao and submitting them to secure the role of special public prosecutor.
As per the FIR, Jagtap acted as Agarwal's private lawyer during the first remand proceeding of a Marine Drive police station extortion case.
Punamiya was arrested in July 2021 in the Rs15 crore extortion case registered against Param Bir Singh and others at Marine Drive. Punamiya claimed that Jagtap was present before the court on July 22, 2021, to represent Agrawal as a private lawyer.
During the arguments it was informed to the court that Jagtap was appointed as the special PP by the state, not only for the Marine Drive case but also for another extortion case involving Agarwal and others at Juhu police station, with alleged connections to underworld figure Chhota Shakeel.
In the FIR, Punamiya asserted that Jagtaps unauthorised intervention led to prolonged incarceration, hindering his ability to secure bail and causing loss of reputation and business. Punamiya used the Right to Information (RTI) and requested information about the cases Jagtap was assigned to appear as a special public prosecutor, the FIR stated.
The home department, in its reply in August 2023, stated that Jagtap was appointed as a special public prosecutor for two extortion cases registered at Marine Drive and Mumbai Crime Branchs Unit-9, and the appearance was limited to these two cases at the Quilla court as well, but he attended the sessions court and cheated the court and the government, the official said.
The accused advocate appeared as a special public prosecutor in the high court, sessions court and Thane district court by producing forged documents and cheated the state government.
