Khed Sessions Court grants interim anticipatory bail to Anil Parab in Dapoli resort case

A court in Khed district of Maharashtra today granted interim anticipatory bail to Anil Parab, member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) belonging to the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, in a fraud case relating to a resort formerly owned by Parab in Dapoli..A sessions judge in Khed district passed the order today in the anticipatory bail application moved by Parab. The protection has been granted till November 14, when the matter will be further heard. .In the application filed through Advocate Sudhir Butala, Parab prayed for interim protection of arrest stating that if he is arrested, then the application seeking anticipatory bail would become infructuous.Parab also stated that since he is an MLC, there is no possibility of him fleeing from justice. .The FIR against Parab came to be filed based on a complaint of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya. Somaiya has alleged in the complaint that the resort in question had several irregularities in its construction and that Parab had indulged in a ₹10 crore scam. Apart from Parab, the FIR was filed against the village sarpanch and gram sevak under Sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.As per the FIR, Parab and the other accused made false entries in the panchayat official records with respect to the taxation of the land on which the resort was built. .The FIR added that Somaiya had alleged in the complaint that despite no construction work on the piece of land, wrong or false entries were made about the construction in panchayat and based on that, tax had been levied and collected. The FIR further said that during an inquiry, it was found that in July 2019, a tax was imposed on the resort property. The panchayat officials were supposed to visit the site and carry out tax collection proceedings, however, the documents showed that no on-site tax collection was conducted and there was no evidence with the panchayat of the same.Somaiya also stated that there was no construction carried out on the property and prior to completion of construction, taxation proceedings was carried out. Thus, the panchayat defrauded the government by abusing its powers under the Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Act. The FIR also pointed out that in June 2020, Parab sought an electricity connection, allegedly pretending that the structure was complete even though it was not.