Bail plea of bank cashier rejected

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court has rejected the bail application of one Lokesh Mehta, a former head cashier of a State Bank of Patiala branch in Ghaziabad. Earlier, Mehta was convicted by the special judge (CBI) Anti-Corruption UP east, Ghaziabad and sentenced to four years' rigorous imprisonment on the charge of criminal misappropriation of a huge amount of Rs 2 crore and 11 lakh.
Passing this order, Justice Srikant Tripathi observed, ''Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, submission of the counsels for the parties, nature of crime and availability of the adequate evidence against the appellant, his release on bail does not appear to be proper.''
The counsel for the appellant, G S Chaturvedi submitted that the cash chest was not in exclusive control and possession of the appellant. The finding of the guilt has been recorded only on the basis of the fact that the appellant was involved in the share market business and had invested Rs 2 crore 7 lakh, which according to the trial court had not been properly explained. Further, the money in share market was invested during the period when no shortage in cash was found at the bank.
Counsel for the CBI, Pranay Krishna submitted that adequate evidence has been adduced during the trial to show that the appellant had an exclusive domain on the entire cash in the bank, including the cash lying in the cash chest. It was next submitted that the appellant has not given any explanation as to how he invested Rs 2 crore 7 lakh in the share market and has not brought on record any other source of income except his salary.