rediff.com: Bharat Shah bail plea to be heard on March 29

Incarcerated film financier Bharat Shah, charged with alleged nexus with the underworld, urged a special court to release him on bail on Wednesday.

A bail petition was filed by his lawyer Shiraz Rahimtoola before designated judge A P Bhangale who directed public prosecutor Rohini Salian to file her say on March 29.

Shah's bail has been rejected earlier by the special court and the Bombay High Court. Shah was arrested on January 8 and booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. He is in custody since then.

Shah has denied links with any organised crime syndicate and said he was not associated with Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel. He refuted allegations by police that he had spoken to Shakeel on telephone.

Even assuming police allegation to be true, Shah said, it was film producer Nasim Rizvi who had dialled Shakeel on his cellphone and handed over the instrument to him for a dialogue with the gangster. Except this, he said, there was no material to suggest his links with Shakeel.

Rizvi, producer of film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke had told a pack of lies in his confession recorded on January 1 this year, Shah alleged. Police had implicated him on Rizvi's confession which he had already retracted, he said.

Shah contended that he was wrongly booked under MCOCA and denied he had helped Shakeel in extorting money from producer Rakesh Roshan and actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah pleaded that he had always supported Rakesh Roshan and stood by him in his hour of need. He had also financed several of Roshan's films.

Shah claimed he was on good terms with Khan and had joined him in a business venture. Besides, Shah said his firm had financed the forthcoming film Devdas in which Khan played the lead role. Shah claimed he was interested in the health and longevity of the actor.

He pleaded that the court could not rely upon the tape-recorded talks under MCOCA. Such evidence was not admissible and must be destroyed in keeping with Supreme Court directions and Indian Telegraph Act.

He said there was no evidence to indicate that Shakeel had financed CCCC. On the contrary, there were records to show that his firm Mega Bollywood had financed the venture.

Shah said there was no evidence to point out that the man in the conversation was Shakeel. The police were only relying upon a statement of an inspector who said he recognised Shakeel's voice because he had interrogated him 15 years back.

Shah contended that he was a man of substance and there was no need for him to take recourse to organised crime. He had a well established business. His firms had invested Rs 500 million in film making and Rs 4 billion in the diamond trade.


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