Pune: The special court in Pune today (Jan 19, 2004) rejected the bail plea of former Mumbai Police Commissioner R S Sharma accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam.

The designated Judge for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), S M Shembole rejected Sharma's bail application on the ground that there was prime facie evidence of his involvement in the alleged crime.

Sharma, who was arrested on December one last year, had urged for bail saying that he had not committed any offence and hence should be released on bail.

He is the first police commissioner of Maharashtra to be arrested under stringent provisions of MCOCA for allegedly developing links with the organised crime syndicate of prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi.

In the earlier hearings, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had opposed Sharma's bail plea on the ground that there were enough evidence that he had aided and abetted the organised crime syndicate of Telgi.