A bench comprising Justices AR Lakshman and Altamas Kabir dismissed Vinod G Asrani’s appeal and directed him to surrender before the special MCOCA court in Mumbai.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by an alleged Chotta Rajan gang member against a Bombay High court order, which refused him bail on the grounds that the state had not obtained due sanction under Section 23 of the MCOCA Act for prosecution.
While upholding the impugned order of the High Court, a bench comprising Justices AR Lakshman and Altamas Kabir dismissed Vinod G Asrani’s appeal and directed him to surrender before the special MCOCA court in Mumbai.
Asrani’s counsel Sushil Kumar said since the petitioner’s name was not mentioned in the FIR, he should not have been charged under MCOCA. Appearing for the state, former additional solicitor general Altaf Ahmed and RK Adsure rebutted, saying it was not necessary to name an accused in the FIR. They argued that “non-inclusion of Asrani’s in the approval granted by the police chief is of no consequence since during the investigation his complicity was already established”. The bench then quashed the order granting him interim bail during the period of his appeal.
While dismissing the petition, the bench said, “As to whether any offence has at all been made out against the petitioner for prosecution under the MCOCA, the High Court rightly said the accused will have sufficient opportunity to contest the same before the special court. We are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court and the special leave petition is accordingly dismissed.”
The bench cited the modus operandi of the organised crime syndicate led by Chhota Rajan. “The gang extorts large sums of money from developers who undertake redevelopment work of old buildings around Chembur and Tilak Nagar in Mumbai by threats, including death.”
Asrani facilitated the legalisation of funds extorted from the builders in Mumbai’s Tilak Nagar and Chembur.
“The offence alleged to have committed by Asrani has a direct bearing and link with the activities of the other accused in the Chhota Rajan gang,” said the judges.
Asrani was arrested for allegedly acting at the behest of a Chotta Rajan gangster, Pradip Madgaonkar (alias Bandya Mama) Asrani in assisting Rajan’s wife, Sujata alias Nani to ‘launder large amounts of money. He reportedly facilitated transfer of extortion money in M/S Khushi Developers Pvt Ltd., a company named after Rajan’s youngest daughter and had Sujata as a director.
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