Allahabad HC grants bail to Irfan Solanki in extortion case, to remain in jail

Prayagraj (UP), Mar 10 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted bail to former Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki and his brother Rizwan Solanki in a criminal case of extortion pending in Kanpur Nagar.

Though the bail has been granted to the duo in the 2022 case, they will not walk out of jail because of other pending criminal cases.

The bail application was filed on behalf of the applicants in a criminal case registered in 2022 under Section 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Jajmau police station in Kanpur Nagar.

An FIR was lodged on February 6, 2022 against the two brothers alleging that they wanted to take possession of the land of some poor persons and objection was made by the informant. Thereafter, they threatened the informant Akeel Ahmad and demanded Rs 10 lakh from him.

The accused submitted that they were innocent and have been falsely implicated in this case.

At the time of incident, the petition claimed that Irfan Solanki was an MLA and he had been targeted due to political enmity. Irfan Solanki is in jail since January 4, 2023.

While granting bail to the applicants, Justice Raj Beer Singh said, "The applicant Irfan Solanki has already undergone detention for more than two years..." "In the case of Prabhakar Tewari vs State of UP 2020, the Supreme Court has observed that the pendency of several criminal cases against an accused may itself cannot be a basis for refusal of bail. Considering the nature of accusations, the bail application of applicant is not liable to be rejected merely on the ground of criminal history and conviction." Though the bail has been granted to Irfan Solanki and his brother Rizwan in the present case of extortion, they will not walk out of jail because other criminal cases are pending against them and they have to yet obtain bail in those cases. PTI COR RAJ KSS KSS