'Direct involvement' in Mithi river scam: Court denies bail to accused Ketan Kadam again

Mumbai, Oct 16 (PTI) A court in Mumbai has refused to grant bail to Ketan Kadam, an alleged middleman and a company's CEO held in the Rs 65-crore Mithi river desilting contract scam in the metropolis, noting he has direct involvement in the crime.

Additional Sessions Judge N G Shukla rejected the bail plea of Kadam, dubbed a "mastermind" of the conspiracy linked to the scam, on October 14 and a detailed order was made available on Thursday (October 16).

This was the second time when Kadam was denied bail by the sessions court. The alleged middleman moved a fresh bail plea after police filed a chargesheet in the case.

However, the court, while hearing the bail plea, observed, "It is a settled position of law that filing of the chargesheet would strengthen the allegations against the accused." As per the prosecution, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had given contracts of desilting the Mithi River, which flows through Mumbai, at multiple sites to different companies by inviting tenders from 2019 to 2024.

It alleged that Kadam, chief executive officer (CEO) of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, conspired with BMC officials and contractors for inserting such terms and conditions for tender that compelled contractors to hire machines from his firm.

The order stressed that the execution of these agreements clearly indicated that the applicant had created them "only to manage the money trail received from the bidders".

Kadam, through his lawyer, had argued while seeking bail that other accused, who are BMC officials, were not arrested in the case though they did not have interim protection from coercive action.

The sessions judge's response was that their anticipatory bail applications were pending before the Bombay High Court and hence, "It would not be proper to make any comment on this submission." "However, that cannot be a ground to grant bail to the applicant considering his role as a mastermind of the conspiracy with the BMC officials" the court said.

On the ground of parity cited by Kadam, the sessions judge underlined that his role was "much more serious than the co-accused" to whom bail had been granted.

"The applicant Kadma has direct involvement in the present crime and he has managed money received from the contractors in his shell companies," the court stated.

The sessions judge concluded that the accused was an influential person and there are chances of him tampering with evidence and threatening witnesses if freed on bail.

"Hence, I am of the view that the applicant is not entitled for bail," the court maintained while rejecting his plea.

The scam relates to alleged irregularities in award of tenders for the desilting of Mithi river, which acts as a stormwater drainage channel for the metro city.

Police have alleged BMC officials tailored tenders for the desilting contract in such a way that they benefited a particular supplier of machinery, and the contractors reportedly generated fraudulent bills for transporting the sludge out of Mumbai. PTI AVI RSY