HC posts hearing of Kalpana Kharat’s pre-arrest bail to last week of May

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Bombay high court's Aurangabad bench on Tuesday allowed Kalpana Kharat, the of Nashik-based astrologer Ashok Kharat, to seek an urgent hearing on her anticipatory bail plea in the last week of May in a cheating case registered by the di police, even as she remains untraceable for over a month.The court granted liberty to mention the matter during the vacation period after it could not be heard on the merits due to a heavy board."Owing to the workload of the HC, the matter could not be heard on merit. We pressed for an urgent hearing, and accordingly, the HC granted liberty to place the matter in the last week of this month during the vacation period," said Kalpana's lawyer Prashant Giri.Multiple police teams have been unable to trace Kalpana Kharat so far. He bail plea was earlier rejected by the Rahata sessions court, prompting her to move the high court.The matter came up before Justice Vaishali Jadhav, where advocate Giri argued that the dispute was civil in nature and pointed out that notices had already been issued in the case.He further informed the court that while Kalpana remains untraceable, her husband Ashok Kharat is already in custody in connection with the same case. He also told the court that the family was "ashamed of the allegations" against him.The police said the cheating case involves the Kharat couple and three others, with investigations ongoing to locate Kalpana and probe the allegations.