HC denies bail to man in fake currency case

Bengaluru: The high court on Friday denied bail to Mohammed Sajjad Ali alias Chacha, a resident of Malda in West Bengal, who allegedly acted as a supplier /courier in a racket to circulate fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in South India.

A division bench headed by justice KN Phaneendra rejected the plea after P Prasanna Kumar, special public prosecutor for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), said the petitioner had ferried fake notes printed in Pakistan and brought them to India through the Bangladesh-West Bengal route for circulating them in South India, including Bengaluru.

Sajjad Ali was found in possession of FICN worth Rs 3.9 lakh out of the Rs 4.3 lakh

fake currency

(all notes of Rs 2,000 denomination) seized from three persons during a police raid in BDA Layout, near Alur, on August 8 last year.

The raid was conducted after NIA, Mumbai tipped off local police about the trio’s presence in Bengaluru.

In the chargesheet filed before the special court, the accused were charged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), read with 489B and 489C (counterfeit notes) of IPC.

Three others — MG Raju alias Raju from Vijayapura Devanahalli taluk, Gangadhar Ramappa Kolkar alias Gangappa from Vajjarmatti in Bagalkote district and Vanitha J alias Thangam from Ramachandrapuram, Bengaluru, — have been arrayed as co-accused in the case. The total amount of FICN recovered from the quartet is Rs 6.3 lakh. Apart from currency, some mobiles, SIM cards and documents were seized from them.

PIL challenges designation of senior advocates

The high court on Friday ordered notice to the ministry of law and justice, its registrar-general and the committee for designation of senior high court advocates in a PIL.

A division bench headed by acting chief justice L Narayana Swamy ordered notice to 17 senior advocates who were designated on November 16, 2018.

In his petition, advocate TN Raghupathy claimed the notification designating 18 advocates as seniors in November last year violated section 16(2) of the Advocates Act, as the high court hadn’t formed any opinion before choosing them.

The petitioner urged the court to direct the ministry of law and justice to frame rules for designation of senior advocates under the Advocates Act.

Of the 68 applicants, 18 were designated as senior advocates after the personality test/interview conducted in October. One of the designated senior advocates died recently.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.