Nagpur: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the fake Shalarth ID scam suffered a setback on Thursday when the arrest of former deputy director of education Anil Pardhi was termed ‘irregular’.Pardhi was granted on the grounds that his kin were not informed as per the constitutional rights guaranteed under Article 22 (1). The stunned cops are now set to press for a revision of the verdict before the sessions court.Sources said that Pardhi’s lawyer, advocate Dipenn Jagyasi, argued that the cops did not inform the senior education official’s family about the grounds of arrest, as per his constitutional rights. The court granted bail on the issue of violation of constitutional rights, said Jagyasi.While Pardhi’s bail was granted upon furnishing surety and personal bond, his release has been delayed by a day as the formalities could not be completed within the working hours of the court. Another accused in the case, Laxman Magam, was remanded in SIT custody till May 26. The SIT is in the process of making more arrests soon.The SIT had sought Pardhi’s five-day custody remand to probe his role in preparing 86 fake Shalarth IDs, which were created by Magam against hefty bribes, to recruit and promote teachers on the basis of bogus documents. Magam’s interrogation had led to Pardhi’s name surfacing in the scam.Pardhi was the second official of the rank of deputy director of education to be arrested after Ulhas Narad, now suspended, who was in custody for around a fortnight before getting bail. Sources said Pardhi and Narad are facing charges of issuing instructions to create fake Shalarth IDs. Around 623 fake Shalarth IDs are now under scrutiny, with substantial loss being suffered by the state exchequer in the form of salaries and other monetary benefits to teachers recruited fraudulently.Narad was instrumental in registering the first case at the cyber police station for theft of office computer log-in IDs and passwords with which the fake Shalarth IDs were created. The offence was registered after an inquiry by higher education department officials.
