An employee who mortgaged his owner’s hotel gets bail

A lockdown court, considering the guidelines of the High Power Committee (HPC) for release of prisoners to de-congest jails during the coronavirus pandemic situation, recently granted bail for eight weeks to a man who had duped his employer of around Rs. 78 lakh.

As per the case against 35-year-old Nizamuddin Arif registered by the Bandra police station, he was employed in a hotel and his employer had given him authority to sign cheques for running the business. Arif had not used these powers, but had allegedly forged the employer’s signature and even that of his employer’s mother and duped him of Rs. 78 lakh. Using the forged signature of the complainant’s mother, he allegedly mortgaged the hotel premises which was in her name and got Rs. 10 lakh.

The employer got to know only later than most of the vendors of the hotel, as well as the hotel staff had been unpaid for some time and all the amount was being pocketed by the applicant. The loot money was also used for purchase of liquor, according to the complaint.

Additional Public Prosecutor Sumesh Panjwani had argued against the grant of bail to Arif, telling the court that though the police had frozen the account of Arif into which he had transferred the ill-gotten money, now only Rs. 2 is left in that account, making freezing it useless.

Arif’s advocate contended that his client had been falsely implicated in the case and that the complainant was aware of the transactions. Arif however, submitted an undertaking to court that he will deposit the amount alleged in the crime within six months in court.

Additional Sessions Judge RM Sadrani considered the guidelines of the HPC which state that bail needs to be considered favourably and also considered the undertaking given by the applicant, while granting him bail.

The court granted him temporary bail on provisional payment of Rs. 25,000, directed that he must not leave the city and pay the amount alleged in the crime be deposited by six months to court.