Realty firm directors' bail plea rejected

Pune: A city sessions court has rejected the bail application of two directors of a construction firm in a case of alleged defrauding of prospective homebuyers.
Jayant C Waydande and Yogesh V Shelar, directors of WS Developers, were first arrested on May 9 for allegedly making false and misleading claims about a residential scheme.
Following their custodial interrogation for 12 days, a magisterial court had granted them bail on May 21 following which the Lonikand police sought transfer of their custody and arrested them in a fresh case of fraud.
The Lonikand police had received over 37 complaints against WS Developers and its two directors for allegedly duping homebuyers of Rs 3 crore. Police said the two accused claimed to have bought 100 acres of land on the eastern outskirts of Pune city and floated various residential schemes at Wagholi, Wade Bolhai, Kesnand and Ranjangaon, among others, in 2012. However, the schemes never took off and the buyers realised later that the title of the land was questionable.
A first class judicial magistrate had rejected Waydande's and Shelar's bail plea in the Lonikand case on May 29, following which the two had moved an appeal before the sessions court. The case was heard by the court of additional sessions judge Ashok Bhillare and was posted for final order on Monday. Additional public prosecutor Vilas Pathare, assisted by the original complainant's lawyer Nilesh Bhandari, opposed the bail plea on the grounds that the claims relating the status of the residential projects made by the accused were false.
Bhandari said, "The accused claimed that they be granted bail as the matter was more of a civil dispute and that the builders were committed to handing over possession of flats and row houses in the schemes they had undertaken. The accused also claimed that a substantial work on the project had been completed and the same was stuck now because the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had restrained them for want of an environment clearance."
Bhandari said that the court rejected the bail plea primarily on the grounds that only two buildings were ready.
Bhandari said, "The court observed that the case involved interests of a large number of flat and row house purchasers in as many as 11 buildings and only two of these buildings were ready." The court rejected the bail plea of the two directors primarily on these grounds, he said.