SLUG: LAND GRABBING CASEAhmedabad: A city sessions court on Tuesday rejected the regular bail plea of Popular Builders’ owner Raman Patel in a land-grabbing case registered by CID (crime) last year. The court, while denying bail, cited Patel’s past record, including his conviction in a similar case by a Sanand court, where he was found guilty of using forged documents to grab two plots.Patel and his younger brother Dashrath were named as CBI witnesses in the 2010 chargesheet in the controversial Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. In the past five years, Patel has been named in several land-grabbing cases involving allegedly forged documents related to decades-old transactions. The transaction in the present case is also alleged to have taken place in 1986 in Makarba village.In his bail plea, Patel maintained his innocence, alleging that he had been made a scapegoat while the real culprits were not being prosecuted.Opposing Patel’s bail plea, public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt informed the court that a trial court had rejected Patel’s request to become an approver. He also cited other cases of land grabbing registered against Patel.After the hearing, additional sessions judge J I Patel cited a Supreme Court order passed previously in a bail application filed by Patel, in which the apex court expressed concerns that evidence could be tampered with. The judge said, “Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, at this stage, I am of the view that this is not a fit case to use the discretionary power of this court in favour of the present applicant to enlarge him on bail.”
