SC rejects Daya Nayak's bail petition
by Chandrika Jain

     New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail petition of suspended Mumbai encounter specialist Daya Nayak and ordered him to surrender immediately in any designated court, in connection with a disproportionate assets case. The Supreme Court had on February 14 extended protection from arrest for two more days to Nayak and postponed the hearing of the case till today. Supreme Court Justice K G Balakrishnan had ruled that Nayak would not be arrested till Friday.

    Nayak had on Monday moved the Supreme Court to counter the Bombay High Court rejection of his anticipatory bail plea. The Bombay High Court had on February 8 rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Nayak, while his wife Komal was granted bail on payment of Rs 25,000. The High Court had also rejected the bail plea of Nayak's associate Rajendra Padte. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had opposed the bail plea, saying custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary. The ACB had charged Nayak with possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, while his wife and Padte were booked for allegedly helping him in the laundering of his ill-gotten wealth. Prior to this, Prosecutor R V Kini had opposed the bail plea, saying the ACB had enough material to show that Nayak had assets disproportionate to his income (estimated at nearly two million dollars or Rs. 90 crores) and that the other two applicants had helped him launder the money.

    Nayak has submitted that the charges of his having wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income were false and that it was a conspiracy hatched by rivals to "finish" his career. Komal had argued that as she was in service, her monetary transactions should not be linked to her husband Nayak. She said that even before her marriage she was working for Deve Paints (formerly Garware Paints) and monetary transactions questioned by the ACB were in her official capacity and had nothing to do with her husband. The ACB has also claimed that co-accused Manivellan, Director of Deve Paints, received Rs 13 lakhs from Komal which supposedly belonged to Nayak. The court had also asked Komal and Padte to submit their passports to the ACB. Nayak s passport was already deposited with the office of the Mumbai Police Commissioner. Meanwhile, the Police are investigating Nayak's involvement in a Punjab petrol-pump scam since his wife Komal is one of the directors of Ojus Housing Finance, one of the firms named in the scam.

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