Mumbai, Oct 22 (PTI) A court here has refused bail to Hitesh Mehta, the key accused in the Rs 122-crore New India Co-Operative Bank embezzlement case, saying the matter involves “huge amounts” and that the allegations against him are serious.
Mehta, the bank’s former general manager and head of accounts, is the primary suspect in the alleged misappropriation of Rs 122 crore from the bank’s reserves over five years.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Esplanade Court) Abhijit R Solapure rejected Mehta’s bail plea on October 18.
The court in its detailed order noted that, as per the chargesheet, “this accused has been instrumental in taking cash and putting it in circulation by transferring it to other accused”.
The court also said that “the chargesheet clearly carves out the role of this accused in the overall crime”.
“It cannot be stated that the investigating officer rushed to file a chargesheet without proper details,” the court added.
The key contentions raised by Mehta while pressing for bail included “unexplained delay in lodging FIR”.
Mehta, through his lawyer, submitted that he was allegedly made to confess on an affidavit on February 14, 2025, which was not voluntary and therefore inadmissible as evidence.
The defence claimed that the Supreme Court’s guidelines were violated while conducting a lie-detector test on Mehta, and hence, its result should be declared inadmissible.
However, the court said there was ample evidence on record to show Mehta’s involvement in the case, even if the “results of such tests” were ignored at this stage.
The court stressed that the offence of “this magnitude” would require a thorough inspection of documents to ascertain the money trail.
“The offences alleged against this accused along with others are serious and involve huge amounts,” it said.
The court accepted the “loud and clear” apprehension raised by the prosecution that if released on bail, there is a possibility that Mehta might tamper with prosecution evidence and also create difficulties in the ongoing forensic audit.
“The possibility of the accused misusing the liberty cannot be overlooked,” the court held while refusing bail to Mehta.
The case came to light following an inspection by Reserve Bank of India officers at the bank’s Prabhadevi office in February.
Initially, RBI officers detected a cash shortfall of Rs 112 crore, which later escalated to Rs 122 crore missing from the bank’s custody, including discrepancies found at its Goregaon branch.
Later, Mehta was arrested following allegations that he and his associates orchestrated the embezzlement of funds from the bank. PTI AVI NR