Bachchu Kadu granted bail, asked to surrender his passport

In a relief to independent legislator Bachchu Kadu who was arrested for allegedly slapping a bureaucrat on Tuesday after a scuffle over allowing an associate to live in government quarters, an Esplanade Court in Mumbai on Thursday granted him bail.

The court has granted him bail on a surety of Rs 25,000 and he has also been asked to surrender his passport.

The magistrate on Thursday remanded him to judicial custody till April 8 and immediately after that his lawyer filed for bail. His lawyer had argued that in a case like this the magistrate court has power to grant bail and hence he should be granted bail. After hearing arguments, the court granted bail to Kadu, who is the Achalapur MLA.

The Maharashtra government employees working at the Mantralaya, the state secretariat, had on Tuesday called a protest against the alleged assault on an official by an independent MLA. They had demanded action against the legislator. The protest continued on Wednesday, with the staff assembling in Mantralaya, seeking action against Kadu, against whom an FIR has been lodged.

The Marine Drive police held the legislator, who represents Achalpur Assembly constituency in Amaravati district of Maharashtra, as soon as he came out of the Assembly on Wednesday.

It is alleged that Kadu, along with a clerk Ashok Jadhav, had gone to meet B. R. Gavit, deputy secretary, general administration department on Tuesday.

He was insisting that Mr Jadhav be allowed to continue to stay in the government quarters and be allotted additional accommodation, in violation of norms. The officer apparently refused to entertain his demand. An infuriated Kadu allegedly abused and hit him hard on the head.