Two sent to magisterial custody

PUNE: The two directors of the Jalna-based M/s Rutuja Ispat Private Limited (RIPL) who were arrested for allegedly evading Rs 9 crore excise duty have been sent to magisterial custody till August 27. The court, however, granted interim bail to their father, who is a share holder of the firm, on a personal bond of Rs 15,000.
The directorate general of central excise intelligence (DGCEI), Pune, had arrested Shailesh Badjate (33), his brother Sushil (35) and their father Subhashchandra (63) on Tuesday night.
When the bail plea filed by the three came up for hearing before the chief judicial magistrate N T Ghadge, defence lawyer S K Jain argued that his clients were arrested for committing a non cognizable offence under relevant sections of the Central Excise Act, 1944, but no permission of the chief judicial magistrate court was obtained prior to arresting them under section 155 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc).
Jain argued the court can authorize detention of suspects as per Section 167 (2) of the CrPc and he pleaded to release them on bail on technical grounds that the DGCEI had gone ahead with the probe in gross violation of law.
Jain submitted there was no question of his clients hampering the probe if no permission to conduct investigations was obtained from the court.
The bail plea hearing has been deferred till Friday for enabling the central government standing counsel Krishna Ratnaparkhi to clarify the legal position for arresting the suspects.