Ketan Parekh faces non-bailable arrest warrant

A special court on last Friday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against gilt scam-accused Ketan Parekh.

The court also dismissed a petition filed by Parekh, challenging an earlier order that cancelled his conditional bail.

The special CBI court at Bhadra in Ahmedabad is hearing the case involving Parekh's alleged duping of the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank (MMCB).

Parekh was arrested for his failure to repay Rs 380 crore to the bank by August 2004.

MMCB chief executive officer B K S Maruthy said on Monday that the CBI has obtained a non-bailable warrant against Parekh, but could not comment on whether his arrest is likely to be made in the next few days.

Earlier this month the special CBI court in Ahmedabad had cancelled the conditional bail of Parekh, paving the way for his arrest for duping MMCB.

However, following an appeal from Parekh, the judge had granted him a fortnight's time to approach a higher court to seek a stay on the order.

Meanwhile, Parekh has paid back Rs 15 crore to the bank in the last two months, which is being seen as an attempt by him to evade arrest. The bank has, however, made its intention clear to the CBI court, that it will settle only for full repayment of dues by Parekh.

The Reserve Bank of India had suspended MMCB from clearing operations in March 2001, after an inquiry revealed that the bank was facing a liquidity crunch and was in the eye of the pay order scam involving Parekh.

The crisis-hit MMCB has hastened its recovery process after the Central government extended the time frame of its revival package by one year.

The original revival package period of the bank was scheduled to expire on August 24, 2004.