Mumbai, Dec 04: Incarcerated Samajwadi Janata Party MLA Anil Gote, facing the charge of alleged links with prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi in the multi-crore fake stamp paper case, has urged Mumbai High Court to grant bail and allow him to attend winter session of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly commencing in Nagpur from December eight. His petition will come up tomorrow for hearing before Justice B H Marlapalle.
Earlier, Gote's bail plea was rejected by a special court in Pune which upheld prosecution's contention that he was prima facie involved in the scam and had close links with Telgi.
According to SIT, Gote had knowledge of organised crime syndicate run by Telgi and had gained monetary benefits from him.
Gote, an MLA From Akola, was closely associated with Telgi in the printing press where the counterfeit stamps were printed and had also received large sums of money from the accused. He was also allegedly instrumental in getting Telgi a stamp vendor's licence from Maharashtra government, SIT alleged.
Gote was the first legislator to be arrested in connection with the racket on June 30 and was charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
He is being accused of using political clout and helping Telgi in the racket. At present Gote is lodged in a Pune jail.
Other legislator to be arrested was Telugu Desam Party MLA and former Andhra Pradesh minister Krishna Yadav.
Bureau Report