The Bombay High Court recently requested the magistrate at Esplanade court to hear and decide an interim bail plea filed by Jasvinder Singh Banwait, an accused in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, on April 15 in view of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Mr. Banwait was a director and member of the bank’s Loan, Investment and Executive Committee when the alleged fraud of ₹4,355 crore took place. On April 10, Justice Gautam Patel via videoconferencing heard a plea made by Mr. Banwait, arrested on March 12 by the Economic Offences Wing and lodged at Taloja jail. He was interrogated about the loan facilities provided by the bank to Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited.
He said he was not provided homecooked food or medicines though the additional chief metropolitan magistrate at the Esplanade court had directed jail authorities to consider his request.
Additional Government Pleader Deepak Thakare said he will immediately issue the necessary instructions to jail authorities to allow regular supply of medicines to Mr. Banwait as he is a diabetic. The court requested the magistrate to hear his interim bail application, which includes applications for specifics such as homecooked food, on April 15 and pass an order the same day.