Ketan Gets Bail

Stock broker Ketan Parekh was released on bail by the special court today on a bond of Rs 5 lakh and a surety of equal amount. The manager of the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank Devendra Pandya has also been granted bail on same terms.

Designated judge A R Joshi, hearing cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, has prohibited Parekh and Pandya from leaving the country without prior court permission. The court has ordered them to present themselves at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office twice a week on Monday and Thursday.

Parekh was released from judicial custody almost two months after he was arrested by the CBI on March 30 following a complaint by the public sector Bank of India. The bank complained that it had lost Rs 137 crore after pay orders issued on Ketan's behalf by Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank bounced back.

The CBI said that the probe was almost complete and a chargesheet would be filed by the month-end. The court opined that no purpose would be served by keeping the accused in custody because investigation had nearly concluded.

Ramesh Parekh, co-accused and chairman of Madhavpura Bank, got bail on April 12 on health grounds. He was later arrested in Ahmedabad in a separate case filed by the bank's administrator on the charge of cheating by diverting funds in the accounts of Ketan Parekh firms and various others. The court had also released on May 9 Ketan's cousin and co-accused Kartik Parekh on same conditions.