Interim protection for lawyer booked for forging documents to appear as public prosecutor

A court here on Monday granted interim protection to lawyer Shekhar Jagtap, who has been booked for allegedly forging documents to appear as a public prosecutor in multiple cases against a builder.Additional Sessions Judge Swapnil Tawshikar, hearing the anticipatory bail of the advocate, granted him ad-interim relief till March 14.

It is important to note the investigating officer of the case has not recorded statements of ministers from Mantralaya (state secretariat) until now and, hence, it is important to protect the applicant till some material is placed on record by the prosecution, the court said.

Based on a complaint lodged by builder Sanjay Punamiya, the police registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 465 (forgery) against Jagtap, builder Shyamsunder Agrawal, Sharad Agrawal and Kishore Bhalerao, deputy secretary in the state home department.

Punamiya was arrested in July 2021 in a Rs 15 crore extortion case registered against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and others at Marine Drive police station.

The complainant has alleged that after his arrest in the Marine Drive case, Jagtap was present before the court on July 22, 2021 to represent Shyamsunder Agrawal as a private lawyer.

During the second hearing, the accused lawyer submitted a letter before the court claiming he was appointed as special public prosecutor in the case and in another case registered against gangster Chhota Shakeel, Agrawal and others.

As per the FIR, Jagtap posed as a special public prosecutor and appeared for eight hearings in the High Court.

In his complaint, Punamiya has alleged Jagtap created hurdles in the investigation to help Shyamsunder Agrawal and others in the case.

As per the FIR, Punamiya used the Right to Information (RTI) to find out details of the cases in which Jagtap was assigned to appear as special public prosecutor.

The state home department, in its reply in August 2023, said Jagtap was appointed as special public prosecutor for two extortion cases registered at Marine Drive police station and Mumbai Crime Branch's Unit-9 and the appearance was limited to these two cases.

Jagtap is accused of cheating the court and government by appearing as special public prosecutor in the HC, sessions court and Thane district court by producing forged documents.