MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has given interim remain on a magistrates order of acquittal in an unfaithful case against former president of the Satara-based Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society Mahadev Deshmukh and 5 others who allegedly defrauded around 350 trainees of Rs 29 crore by appealing MBBS admissions.
In November 2022, the magistrate had actually acquitted the implicated after one of the 95 victims reached a compromise with them before the Lok Adalat.While staying the magistrate; s order last week, the HC said considering that all victims were not party to the compromise, which has been backed by the panel in the Lok Adalat, the last order passed pursuant thereto appears to be prohibited.
Of 95 victims, only one offered compromise declaration: HC Vaduj police in Satara had registered a cheating case against previous president of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society Mahadev Deshmukh and others in the MBBS admission fraud and based upon the FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a money-laundering case.
The ED apprehended Deshmukh in 2022; he is still in prison.
Last November, while acquitting the implicated from the cheating case, the magistrate had stated, The matter is pending for the look of the accused given that 2017.
Today, the informant appeared prior to me and submitted that he ...
desires to withdraw the case versus accused persons.
This shows that the informant has no complaint ...
any longer.
Thus, no function would be served in keeping the matter pending on record.
Based on the magistrate order, Deshmukh and others had applied for bail and discharge from the money-laundering case before the special PMLA court, which rejected it last November.
The ED and authorities discussed the advancement after which the latter, through the federal government, filed a writ petition in the high court against the magistrate order.Deshmukh was not served the notice and his lawyer appeared in the HC suo motu.
Deshmukhs attorney argued that every award made by the Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all celebrations to the dispute and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award.
But the court rejected it, stating that its not an appeal, however a writ petition.
There were 95 victims.
Just the informant [among the victims] appeared prior to the Lok Adalat and sent a compromise declaration, stated the HC.
Admittedly, on the given date, the respondents have remained in jail and not present in Lok Adalat ..., it said.
The HC then remained the acquittal order till January 25, when the matter will be heard next.