Dismissed judge, Singh's bail plea rejected

Dismissed judge, Singh's bail plea rejected
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

FEBRUARY 2: The Bombay High Court today rejected the bail plea of dismissed Session Judge J W Singh on the grounds that if released he would tamper with the evidences against him.

Delivering his order Justice S S Parkar directed the designated court underMaharashtra Control for Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to expedite the trial in the interest of justice. The judge held that under Section 20 (1) (b) of MCOCA there are chances that the accused may abscond if granted bail.

He also the release of Singh may influence the witnessess.Two these were working in the City Civil and Sessions Court. These witnesses had earlier identified Singh's voice which was tapped by the police while he was talking to underworld gangster Chotta Shakeel. This is the first independent bail application of Singh. The HC and the the trial court have earlier rejected his bail applications.

However the judge frowned upon the State's non-observance of the Supreme Court guidelines. He said as per these guidelines, the approval for interception of telephone call was not recommended to the review committee. Neither did the State set up such a committee to look into the validity of the sanction taken for intercepting calls. However he said the points raised by the defence in this regard can be considered at the time of trial.

Singh was arrested on April 25, 2000 for his alleged links with Shakeel. He was earlier absconding for a long period. According to the prosecution, Singh had sought Shakeel's help to recover a sum of Rs 40 lakh due to him from a a chit-fund. Singh was represented by senior counsel V R Manohar along with I P Bagadia.

Public Prosecutor Vijaya Kapase opposing the bail application said Singh was absconding for five months after the First Information Report was lodged in November 1999 and surrendered in March 2000 only after the HC ordered him to surrender to the special court. She said Singh should not be granted bail as he may tamper with the evidence and may also threaten witnesses.