Mumbai: Film financier Bharat Shah on March 7 urged a special court to discard the evidence pertaining to intercepted telephonic talk between him and Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel, as Mumbai High Court had held that such material obtained under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invalid.

Designated judge A P Bhangale has deferred his plea for arguments to March 10 as prosecutor Rohini Salian sought time to file her reply to Shah's petition.

Disposing of Shah's petition, the High Court, on March 5, had struck down certain provisions for intercepting telephonic talks under MCOCA, under which he had been booked. The court had observed that provisions for intercepting oral or electronic communication under MCOCA were beyond the competence of state legislature.

Defence lawyer Srikant Shivde prayed that prosecution was relying upon intercepted telephonic talks between Shah and Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel to prove its case of alleged Bollywood nexus with the underworld. As High Court had struck down provisions of interception of telephonic talks under MCOCA, such evidence could not be relied upon, he said.

Shah prayed that he was falsely implicated in the case and denied that he had committed the alleged offences.

Shah is charged with conspiring with Shakeel to kill film personalities and extort money from them.

PTI