Mumbai: The sessions court on Thursday granted interim protection to Kishor Bhalerao-Joint Secretary working in Law and Judiciary Department, booked in the case registered with Colaba police for allegedly forging letters appointing him as a special public prosecutor (SPP) in cases against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Bhalerao had approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail through lawyer S. B. Talekar contending that Bhalerao is made a scapegoat for obeying orders of his superiors. The court has asked the prosecution to reply and the plea would further be heard on March 11.
Talekar contended that, this happened during the national lockdown, whereby, The then Addl. Chief Secretary (Home), Manukumar Srivastava, the then Addl. Chief Secretary (Appeals and Security), Anand Limaye and the then Home Minister Dilip Walshepatil were not attending Mantralaya regularly. As a result, the regular practice of preparing office note, placing it before Secretaries, and the Ministers of the concerned department as well as Chief Minister and maintaining record thereof was not followed.
Suspension of Bhalerao
Talekar also brought to the notice of the court that, Bhalerao was put under suspension for issuing orders to appoint advocate Jagtap as special public prosecutor. "Minister Walshepatil had issued a letter to the Chief Secretary of Government of Maharashtra stating that Advocate Jagrap was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor as per his oral directions and as such there was no irregularity in appointing advocate Jagtap by the then Deputy Secretary Kishor Bhalerao. He, therefore, requested the Chief Secretary to withdraw the order placing Kishor Bhalerao under suspension," Talekar argued pointing out the letter dated January 31.
Meanwhile, the prosecution and the complainant contested the authenticity of the letter. The court has now asked prosecution to submit detailed reply on the issue by the next hearing.
Case Registered Against Builder
The Colaba police has registered the case on the complaint of builder Sanjay Punamiya, who has alleged that Jagtap, despite representing the state, assisted builder Shamsunder 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 PP.
FIR Lodged By Colaba Police
As per the FIR lodged by the Colaba police, Jagtap acted as Agarwal’s private lawyer during the first remand proceeding of a Marine Drive police station extortion case, which led to Punamiya’s arrest and implicated Param Bir Singh.
Alleged Connections With Chhota Shakeel
Jagtap allegedly informed the court that he had been 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, which alleged connections with underworld figure Chhota Shakeel.
In the FIR, Punamiya asserted that Jagtap’s unauthorised intervention led to prolonged incarceration, hindering his ability to secure bail and causing loss of reputation and business.
