Mumbai: A sessions court this week granted bail to two contractors, Sunil Upadhyay and Mahesh Purohit, in connection with the Rs 65 crore Mithi river desilting scam. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had arrested the duo for allegedly forging documents and causing a wrongful loss to the BMC. The prosecution alleged that the accused submitted forged Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) for dumping sites and manipulated vehicle tracking system receipts to claim payments for work that was never fully executed.While granting relief, additional sessions judge NG Shukla observed that the alleged conspiracy involving BMC officials and the use of specialized pontoon machines began in 2020, whereas the contracts handled by these accused concluded between 2013 and 2019. The court noted that since the chargesheet had already been filed, further detention was unnecessary. Addressing the nature of the evidence, the judge stated, “Whether the applicant has forged the documents is a matter of trial. Hence, without much commenting on such documents, I am of the view that even though the applicant is involved in economic offence… it will not be justifiable to keep the applicant behind bar for an indefinite period as the trial will not commence and conclude in near future.”
The court also noted the reliability of the witnesses presented by the prosecution, particularly land owners who claimed their signatures were forged on dumping agreements. The judge pointed out that many of these statements were recorded seven years after the work was completed, which raised doubts about their credibility at the bail stage.
