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Bharat Shah's bail plea rejected

A special court Wednesday rejected the bail plea of film financier Bharat Shah, who has been arrested under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for his alleged links with the underworld to target Bollywood personalities for personal gains.

In a related development, designated judge A P Bhangale, extended until April 23 the judicial remand of Shah, Nazeem Rizvi, producer of film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, and his assistant, Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh.

Shah had urged for bail saying that there was no material with the prosecution to prove that he was part of conspiracy to target film personalities for extortion. The police had not attributed any direct role to Shah in the conspiracy, his lawyers V R Manohar and Vibhav Krishna argued.

The confession of co-accused Rizvi that he had passed on Rs 1.5 million to Shah to be given to Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel could not be relied upon because it had already been retracted by him, the court was told.

Rizvi's confession, defence lawyers alleged, was full of inconsistencies and discrepancies. As regards the allegation that Morani brothers (engaged in entertainment business) had paid Rs 7.5million extortion through Shah, they said there was no material to prove it.

The Morani brothers had approached Shah after they received the threats. They urged Shah to help them after many others failed. Shah acted as a mediator between them and Shakeel and did not participate in the conspiracy, his lawyers alleged.

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