Moneylenders denied anticipatory bail in suicide case

Ahmedabad: Additional sessions judge H A Trivedi refused to grant legal protection against possible arrest to two brothers who are involved in moneylending and have been accused of driving a youth to suicide by pressuring him for payment. According to case details, Tejas and Pratik Vanol, residents of Satellite, lent Rs 5.40 lakh to Jigar Parmar at 10% monthly interest. On December 28, 2022, Parmar hanged himself and left behind a suicide note naming the two brothers and accusing them of being responsible for his suicide. An FIR was lodged with Satellite police station under provisions of the IPC and Sections 40 and 44 of the Gujarat Money Lenders Act against the Vanol brothers. The accused filed an anticipatory bail plea claiming that they had helped Parmar financially based on friendly relations because he was their childhood friend. They never pressured him. However, the prosecutor relied on the suicide note and statements of witnesses to submit that the accused had hounded the victim so much that he preferred to end his life. Moreover, the prosecution submitted that the probe is underway, and it was not proper to entertain an anticipatory bail plea, a contention accepted by the court.