SC issues notice on actor's plea seeking bail in chit fund scam case

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a petition filed by a specially-abled actor Mohammad Naseer, seeking bail in the FIR registered against him for allegedly cheating and siphoning money in the name of chit fund schemes.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a petition filed by a specially-abled actor Mohammad Naseer, seeking bail in the FIR registered against him for allegedly cheating and siphoning money in the name of chit fund schemes. A vacation bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Vikram Nath in its order said, "Issue notice returnable within three weeks."

Naseer has approached the apex court seeking bail in a case registered against him under the provisions of the Prize Chits Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. Naseer had previously acted in a film called 'Shadow' and was also the director of M/S Fine Sales Pvt. Ltd.

Both the CBI and ED had registered cases in the matter. Naseer was arrested on 20 July 2009 but was granted bail on the same day.

The Odisha High Court had, then, transferred the case to the CBI on 12 December 2012. However, in 2019, Naseer was taken into custody, after a chargesheet was filed against him. He has been in jail since then.

Nasser contended in the plea that he has been suffering from permanent blindness by birth and it is very difficult for him to move on his own. It was further argued that the Odisha High Court had reserved orders on Naseer's plea seeking bail on 12 June 2020 but the judgment is yet to be pronounced since then. (ANI)