Court grants bail to college trustee arrested in bribery case

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Tuesday granted bail to a Jhunjhunwala college trustee arrested on Saturday for allegedly accepting ₹1,50,000 bribe for a junior college admission.
The informant’s daughter, after passing her SSC examination in March 2024, had applied for admission to Class 11 through the online registration process. Upon inquiring about her admission status at the college, the informant met an officer who stated that the third admission list was pending.
The informant then submitted a letter addressed to Ravindranath Shivpujan Singh, a trustee at Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Ghatkopar, regarding his daughter’s admission. Singh allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹1,50,000 for her admission.
The complainant reported the bribe demand to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), and following a formal complaint and pre-trap procedures, the ACB caught Singh red-handed while accepting the bribe. An FIR has been filed against Singh under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act leading to his arrest on August 3, 2024.
Advocate Pradyumna Waghmare, representing Singh, denied the allegations made in the FIR and argued for his release on bail, asserting that Singh had been falsely implicated. He further said that during a search of Singh’s residence, ACB officials found no incriminating evidence.
A public prosecutor opposed the bail plea, stating that witness statements related to the crime still need to be recorded and that the college’s admission process is ongoing, necessitating a thorough investigation.
Additionally, CCTV footage from the incident location has yet to be recovered. He expressed concerns that releasing the applicant on bail could lead to the destruction of evidence and emphasised the need to trace the final use of the alleged bribe amount.
Additional sessions judge SB Joshi on Tuesday granted bail to Singh stating that the investigation can be done by the police and for that purpose Singh need not be kept behind bars.