MP HC grants bail to Union minister's son in criminal case

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to Union minister Prahlad Patel's son Prabal, an accused in an attempt to murder case.

While granting relief to Prabal Patel on Tuesday, Justice R K Srivastava observed that the applicant "is entitled to get bail as there is no possibility of him absconding and tampering with the prosecution evidence".

The court ordered that the applicant, who has been in jail for more than two months, be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one solvent surety of the same amount.

Prabal Patel was among seven people arrested in connection with the attack on a group of persons in Gotegaon town of Narsinghpur district on June 17, police had said.

Five people were injured in the attack, during which gunshots were also fired, in the Bailhai Bazaar area, they had said.

After going through CCTV footage and mobile phone location details, police have already dropped the names of four accused from the case, petitioner's counsels Sharad Verma and Shailendra Verma told the high court.

But the name of Prabal Patel was not removed as his mobile phone location showed Gotegaon on the day of the incident, the counsels said.

Prabal Patel is a resident of Kisani Mohalla in Gotegaon.

"We told the court the petitioner was not present at the (crime) spot. He is just 19 and has no criminal antecedent, Shailendra Verma said while pressing for bail for his client.

In the FIR, there is no mention of Prabal Patel inflicting any injury to Shivam Rai and Ishwar Rai, who were wounded in the attack, he said.

In the medical report, the doctor did not say that the injury sustained by another victim, Himanshu Rathore, was life-threatening, he said.

The applicant, who is in jail since June 18, has been falsely implicated in the case, Shailendra Verma claimed.

Police have already filed a charge-sheet in the trial court.

Prabal Patel and other accused were booked under IPC sections related to attempt to murder, kidnapping and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, among others, and also provisions of the Arms Act.

The attack was a fallout of an old dispute, police had said.

Prahlad Patel, the BJP MP from Damoh, was inducted into the Union Cabinet in May.