Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Ketan Kadam, the Chief Executive Officer of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, who is allegedly the mastermind behind the Rs 65-crore Mithi river desilting contract scam. Justice R M Joshi, presiding over the case, found prima facie substance in Kadam's contention that the documents on record do not support the allegations leveled against him.
Prosecution's Allegations
According to the prosecution, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) investigation revealed that contractors submitted false Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and documents to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) regarding sites where they claimed to have dumped silt from the Mithi river. However, no silt had actually been dumped at those locations. Virgo Specialties had entered into an MoU with contractors to provide them with two machines for desilting the river. The machines were never procured, and crores of rupees were siphoned off.
Kadam was booked for criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, and was arrested in 2025.
Defense Arguments
Senior advocate Sudeep Pasbola, representing Kadam, argued that Jay Joshi, the owner of the company, had already been granted bail by the sessions court. He further contended that the chargesheet had been filed and Kadam's further custody was unnecessary. Opposing the bail application, prosecutor A R Kapadnis stated that a huge amount had been misappropriated by forcing contractors to avail machines from the applicant's company. Additionally, Joshi was granted bail on the ground that he was not a signatory to any document.
Court's Observations
Agreeing with Pasbola's submissions, Justice Joshi noted that a perusal of the record and allegations indicated that the applicant (Kadam) or the companies represented by him were not allotted the contract and were not responsible for the actual desilting work. The only allegation against him was that his company facilitated contractors in obtaining contracts and received money without procuring the two machines.
In this regard, the court found it pertinent to note that the BMC had allotted contracts to contractors who did not possess the required machines for desilting work. Thus, it is clear that the corporation permitted them to engage the services of others for providing such machines to execute the work. In such circumstances, it cannot be said that any illegality has been committed by the applicant by providing such machines to the contractor, Justice Joshi added.
Furthermore, the court noted that the record indicated two machines were indeed procured and used for desilting. Additionally, there were documents showing that senior BMC officials certified the work and were also seen inspecting the site. In the light of these facts, when a chargesheet is filed, the applicant cannot be kept in custody by way of pre-trial sentence, the judge remarked.
Bail Conditions
Observing that Kadam has no criminal history and is unlikely to flee, Justice Joshi directed his release on a personal bond of Rs 30,000. Kadam is required to attend the trial court on every hearing date unless exempted.
