Bombay HC grants interim bail to 'Gharkul' scam convict Suresh Jain

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to former Maharashtra minister Suresh Jain, the main convict in the Rs 29-crore 'Gharkul' housing scam, on medical grounds. In August, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Dhule district had found Jain guilty of corruption and sentenced him to seven years in prison. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on him.

A division bench of justices R V More and M S Karnik on Wednesday granted bail to the former Shiv Sena leader for a period of three months on a provisional surety of Rs 5 lakh. Jain, who is presently out on furlough, had approached the high court earlier this month seeking bail on medical grounds.

His lawyers, Aabad Ponda and Subhash Jadhav, told the court that the 76-year-old former minister was suffering from serious medical conditions and undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mumbai. They argued that Jain had already spent over four years in jail as an undertrial.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on February 17. Besides Jain, the sessions court had convicted 47 others, including another former state minister Gulabrao Deokar, ex-municipal councilors, and officials, for irregularities in the 'Gharkul' housing project.

Jain had favored Khandesh Builders, the firm which got the contract to build houses under the 'Gharkul' scheme and indulged in irregularities to the tune of Rs 29 crore. Of the 5,000 houses to be built on the outskirts of Jalgaon city in north Maharashtra, only 1,500 were completed.

Former Jalgaon municipal commissioner Pravin Gedam had registered a complaint in this regard in 2006. On September 8, Jain challenged his conviction in the high court. He had requested that his sentence be suspended and he is released from jail pending the hearing of his appeal.

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