Unable to pay bail surety, man in jail for 3 years

MUMBAI: In a relief to a 53-year-old man accused in the NSEL scam, who has been in jail for the past three years despite being granted bail, amid failure to pay Rs 5 lakh surety, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has now reduced the amount to Rs 1 lakh.
"Except for this accused, rest of the accused appear to be released on bail. This accused was also granted bail but due to big surety amount, he appears to be not complied the same. In such circumstances, no prejudice would be caused to prosecution, if present application is allowed by reducing surety," special judge AS Sayyad said.
Accused Ranjeev Aggarwal has been lodged at Taloja jail. In his plea he had sought the amount be reduced to Rs 50,000. He said he was granted bail in November 2019, adding that 66 persons arraigned as accused have been granted bail. However, only he remained in jail.
The prosecution opposed stating that the offence was serious. It further cited Aggarwal's "blatant disregard for the rule of law" by not presenting himself before the court even after several non-bailable warrants and a proclamation. "The act and conduct of accused show he is leaned towards disobeying orders of this court. He cannot take benefit of his own wrong, as he is in judicial custody due to non-compliance of bail conditions," the prosecution submitted.
For over Rs 15,000 surety, one has to furnish solvency certificate of immovable property worth that much or more. For surety of Rs 15,000 or lesser, income certificate, ration card and proof of residence is enough.